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SFA ready to go ahead with reforms

Scottish Football Association chief executive Stewart Regan has authorised reforms to make the organisation's decision-making more transparent and speedy. Regan's first weeks in the role were dominated by an investigation into the circumstances surrounding Dougie McDonald's decision to rescind a penalty he initially awarded to Celtic during their 2-1 win over Dundee United.

Regan, who moved to Hampden from Yorkshire County Cricket Club, was frustrated by the SFA processes and felt it was inappropriate that McDonald's fate ultimately lay in the hands of a committee dominated by his former colleagues.

In an interview with the SFA's website, Regan said: "We had a board meeting today and it would have been remiss of us not to discuss the events of the past few weeks.

"I submitted a proposal to allow me to address a series of issues that have arisen and have been given the go-ahead to proceed with it.

"Suffice to say I will be seeking to ensure a greater urgency, transparency and openness in all future decision-making.

"The association has to embrace an era of instant information and I hope to produce a suite of measures to re-establish faith in our systems."

Regan will study other governing bodies around the world for ideas to improve "efficiency, transparency and accountability".

"I want us to be an example of good governance," he added.

"Bluntly, I do not want to find us in the same situation again over issues we have the ability to control."

McDonald was warned for submitting an inaccurate match report and giving his supervisor a false account of how he arrived at his decision.

But Regan felt the punishment should not have been handed out by a committee featuring six former referees.

"Where I think there is an issue is whether a referee committee consisting largely of former referees was the correct avenue for a disciplinary case against a current referee," he said.

"This is something I hope will be a catalyst for positive change in the processes and efficiency across the spectrum of the association's responsibilities.

"This is not an implied criticism but rather an acknowledgement that we have to change to manage the demands of the modern game."

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