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Football Association chief executive Martin Glenn explains Allardyce decision

ByPA Sport

Published 26/10/2016 at 22:25 GMT

Chief executive Martin Glenn has suggested Sam Allardyce might not have lost his job if the Football Association's sole responsibility was the England team.

Sam Allardyce had a short reign as England manager

Image credit: PA Sport

Allardyce's spell as the national manager began in July and was over before the end of September following an investigation into corruption conducted by the Daily Telegraph.
The 62-year-old was filmed telling undercover reporters it was "not a problem" to bypass rules on third-party player ownership and claimed he knew of agents who were "doing it all the time".
Following his departure, Allardyce said he "made a significant error of judgement", but that "entrapment had won".
Glenn, who was part of the decision-making process regarding Allardyce's fate, insists the FA had no other option to let him go and it was the right decision to do so, but said it may have been a different scenario at club level.
"Had we only been responsible for the England team, we might have taken a different decision about Sam," said Glenn. " If we were in a club situation you might say ''well the club is more important, it'll be fine and we'll get over it.''
"But the issue we had with Sam was that in implying he could help people circumvent the rules, because we are in charge of running the game and enforcing the rules of the game and, if you like, the law maker and law enforcer, it would have impaired our ability to do that.
"In any 50-50 call we might have to make with a club or a player in the future, we'd then have that thrown back at us."
Asked if he was satisfied with how the FA had dealt with the situation, Glenn said: " Yes. I think it was a tough decision but we were decisive and we didn't kind of kick it into the long grass and have a three month enquiry.
"It was pretty clear and we took the decision on the basis of the things I've just outlined. It was right for the interests of football."
The FA is no nearer a decision on whether Allardyce will face further sanctions following his dismissal as England manager, with Glenn adding: " We are still waiting for all the information and as soon as we have that we will then conduct our own investigation."
Meanwhile, Glenn described as ''premature'' a report in the Times on Wednesday that the FA's new overseas broadcast rights deal for the FA Cup would mean the possibility of a winter break in England would be put on the back burner until at least 2024/25 season.
He said: "We aren't even negotiating, we are just looking at a set of ideals right now and I think that's appropriate.
"We've been discussing things with the Premier League about how to do things differently but I think it's premature to say there can't be a deal because there's other ways of maybe getting time for a winter break.
"If there were to be a case of giving up a Saturday then we know what Saturdays cost as regards an FA Cup Saturday versus a Premier League Saturday."
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