Graham Kelly (football administrator)

For other people named Graham Kelly, see Graham Kelly (disambiguation).

Graham Kelly
NationalityEnglish
OccupationFootball Administrator
Known forSecretary of The Football League (1978–1989)
Chief executive of The Football Association (1989–1998)

Graham Kelly is an English football administrator.

He was secretary of The Football League from 1978 to 1989 and chief executive of The Football Association (FA) from 1989 to 1998.[1] He resigned from The Football Association in December 1998, along with chairman Keith Wiseman, when a scandal broke out over an allegedly improper loan of £3.2 million from the FA to the Football Association of Wales (FAW).[2][3]

It was alleged that the loan was intended to buy the FAW’s support for the election of Wiseman as a vice-president of FIFA, which would in turn help England’s bid to host the 2006 FIFA World Cup, which was ultimately unsuccessful as the event was awarded to Germany in July 2000.[4] After an investigation was conducted by FIFA in 1999, Kelly and Wiseman were cleared of any wrongdoing.[5][6]

  1. ^ Moore, Glenn (16 December 1998). "Flawed FA boss falls on his sword". independent.co.uk. Retrieved 22 August 2022.
  2. ^ Chaudhary, Vivek (17 December 1998). "FA's £3m was 'gift' to Wales, not loan". the Guardian. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
  3. ^ Staff and Agencies (15 December 1998). "Kelly quits in loan scandal". the Guardian. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
  4. ^ "Germany win World Cup vote". news.bbc.co.uk. 6 July 2000. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
  5. ^ "BBC News | Football | FA cleared over 'cash-for-votes'". news.bbc.co.uk. 12 February 1999. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
  6. ^ Thorpe, Martin (13 February 1999). "Kelly plans action after Fifa 'not guilty' verdict". the Guardian. Retrieved 31 July 2018.