WAR has this evening (8 March) issued 2 statements, the first for the Today Programme concerning their interview with Katrien Meire, and the second for general release focussing on the proposed changes to the structure of the FA Board. These are reproduced below for your information. Each was accompanied by the same repeat of our previous (January) statement about the FA, and explanation of WAR (These are at the end, just once, you’ll be glad to know!!)
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WAR (Women Against the Regime) Statement for Radio 4, 8/3/2017WAR (Women Against the Regime) are a Charlton Athletic FC fans’ protest group. (Further details at the end)
On this International Women’s Day, WAR welcome the idea of increasing diversity at the FA. However, as with many things, we feel that the devil is in the detail. WAR are concerned that this will become a tick-box exercise where diversity indicators such as gender are valued above proven ability when making appointments. Such an approach might satisfy external requirements for funding, etc., but would not be in the long term benefit of football. This is particularly true for gender diversity, because there are so few women in senior positions within the football industry and, crucially, not all of them are suitably qualified. It was therefore of great interest to us to hear your interview this morning with Katrien Meire, CEO of our club.
On 23 January 2017, it was reported in the national press (
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-4145894/FA-need-hire-women-not-Charlton-s-Katrien-Meire.html) that Katrien Meire, the inept CEO of Charlton Athletic FC, was being considered for higher office. She had already been appointed to the FA Council as a League 1 representative at a time when there were more vacancies than candidates to join the Council. (It is interesting to note that in September 2016 Meire withdrew her candidature for a post as League 1 representative on the EFL board; we believe this was because she was receiving such low support ahead of the ballot.)
Below is the press release* we sent out in response to the FA rumour. A separate, similar communication was sent to members of the FA Board, and receipt was acknowledged. Our view of these matters is unchanged.
WAR would like to know on what basis future appointments to the FA Board and Council will be made, and what measures will be in place to ensure a suitable calibre of membership, even if this means looking outside the immediate world of football to include candidates with transferable skills from other sports or the business world.
WAR note that Ms Meire said in her Radio 4 interview she would not be applying for a position on the board, on the grounds of having only joined the FA Council last year, and was thus inexperienced in the ways of the FA. However, Ms Meire has a well-documented history of making disingenuous statements and by the time these proposals are due to come into force for the 2018/19 season, we have no doubt she will feel she has overcome this obstacle.
The clue was there in her observation that there are very few female football CEOs – at present we can name three; Baroness Karren Brady at West Ham FC, Carolyn Radford at Mansfield Town FC, and our very own inept Katrien Meire at Charlton Athletic FC. Margaret Byrne was at Sunderland FC until she resigned a year ago. Although she continues to tarnish her CV at Charlton, Ms Meire is undoubtedly an ambitious woman, always eager to occupy the limelight, and clearly aiming ever higher above her capabilities and experience. It is bad enough that she is employing a wrecking ball at Charlton Athletic – the idea of her exercising her inadequate skills at a national level in football is unthinkable.
Although the Radio 4 interviewer touched on the problems at Charlton Athletic, this clearly was not the focus of the interview, so there were no follow-up questions to challenge Ms Meire’s unsubstantive replies about her deficiencies as Charlton’s CEO. 'This is a great pity because having a woman in a top level post, clearly incompetent at so many levels, and apparently in her position only as a result of nepotism, does no favours whatsoever to the causes which International Women’s Day espouses.
WAR was pleased to note that, after her outbursts on the subject last summer, Ms Meire is now able to adopt a more mature and understanding stance towards the regrettable use of sexist language, of which she has indisputably been a recipient. WAR condemn abusive language in any form, although we recognise that it has traditionally formed a convenient “shorthand” for those composing football chants. We would far prefer to debate the damning evidence against this regime, but that is easier to do in a studio than from the stands of a football stadium.
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PRESS RELEASE FROM WAR 8.3.2017 (for immediate release)WAR (Women Against the Regime) are a Charlton Athletic FC fans’ protest group. (Further details at the end)
On this International Women’s Day, WAR welcome the idea of increasing diversity at the FA. However, as with many things, we feel that the devil is in the detail. WAR are concerned that this will become a tick-box exercise where diversity indicators such as gender are valued above proven ability when making appointments. Such an approach might satisfy external requirements for funding, etc., but would not be in the long term benefit of football.
This is particularly true for gender diversity, because there are so few women in senior positions within the football industry, and, crucially, not all of them are suitably qualified.
On 23 January 2017, it was reported in the national press (
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-4145894/FA-need-hire-women-not-Charlton-s-Katrien-Meire.html) that Katrien Meire, the inept CEO of Charlton Athletic FC, was being considered for higher office. She had already been appointed to the FA Council as a League 1 representative at a time when there were more vacancies than candidates to join the Council. (It is interesting to note that in September 2016 Meire withdrew her candidature for a post as League 1 representative on the EFL board; we believe this was because she was receiving such low support ahead of the ballot.)
Below is the press release we sent out in response to the FA rumour. A separate, similar communication was sent to members of the FA Board, and receipt was acknowledged. Our view of these matters is unchanged.
WAR would like to know on what basis future appointments to the FA Board and Council will be made, and what measures will be in place to ensure a suitable calibre of membership, even if this means looking outside the immediate world of football to include candidates with transferable skills from other sports or the business world.
Comments
WOMEN CALL ON FA TO MAKE APPOINTMENTS BASED ON MERIT
Newly formed Charlton supporters' group, #WAR (Women Against the Regime), today calls on the FA not to appoint Charlton CEO Katrien Meire to higher office.
Like many fans throughout football, WAR supports the need for greater diversity and believes that more women should be in positions of influence in the sport. However, we also believe that any such appointments should be based on competence, not simply gender. Given her track record as CEO at Charlton, the appointment of Katrien Meire would be a tick box appointment and not one that would benefit football.
CEO of Charlton Athletic is the first senior managerial post of any kind for intellectual property lawyer, Katrien Meire. During her three years in charge she has shown herself to be incompetent as she has presided over the relegation of the team, constant churn in managerial and other senior roles at the club and mounting financial debt. Above all, she has driven a wedge between our once model club and its supporters.
We assert that the appointment of Katrien Meire to the FA Board, just because she is an available female, would be a set-back for women in the game and for women in business.
Who are Women Against the Regime (WAR)?
We are a group of female supporters of Charlton Athletic FC. For over a year we have individually supported peaceful, lawful, legitimate protests against the owner Roland Duchâtelet, his spokeswoman in Charlton, Katrien Meire, and their poor stewardship of the club. On 4 March 2017 WAR participated in the widely publicised Unity Protest March in Duchâtelet's home town of Sint-Truiden, Belgium.
Earlier this year, Duchâtelet claimed that the protests were only happening because some fans could not bear having a young woman (Katrien Meire) as CEO. We have studied the public actions of Meire and Duchâtelet, and our conclusion is that this regime is not fit for purpose. That one is a 32 year old female, and the other a 70 year old male is totally irrelevant. We welcome the opportunity for capable women, as well as men, to excel in all areas of life, and feel well placed to counter perceptions of misogyny as the cause of the Charlton protests.
Our acronym is a tongue-in-cheek reference to the assertion about fan protests by CEO Katrien Meire in her TalkSPORT radio interview on 27/10/16 that “this war, if we can refer to this as a war, is resolved through talking.” We no longer believe the issue of their incompetent management of Charlton Athletic can be resolved by talking, because the evidence of the past three years is that, although they may talk when it suits them, they do not actively listen.
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Very good by the way.
Proud of every single one of you.
It's a real asset having a very capable women's protest group to counter allegations of sexism and to force home the message that our objections to her are based on her incompetence not her gender.
Well done ladies
Brilliant statements by the way. If I can persuade my girlfriend to continue to get more involved with Charlton I'll be sending her WARs way before long.
Includes link to iPlayer if you want to listen to the Dear Leader.
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