Horne named FA temporary chief as search begins

LORD Triesman has revealed that the Football Association will take its time to appoint a new chief executive following the shock resignation of Ian Watmore.

The FA held an emergency board meeting yesterday and moved swiftly to temporarily fill the gap left by Watmore's exit by naming Alex Horne as acting chief executive officer (CEO).

It is a role that Horne, currently the chief operating officer, has filled before in the wake of Brian Barwick's departure in 2008.

The search for Watmore's successor now begins but Triesman, the FA's chairman, insists it will not be rushed into making a decision.

Triesman has ruled out an appointment before the World Cup starts in June and it could conceivably come after Fifa has voted on England's bid to host the 2018 tournament in December.

"On Friday, I'll sketch out what I think will be the right timetable and submit that to the board," Triesman said. "There's no desire to spend a huge amount of time on this, we all want to replace the CEO. But I want to make sure that when the board is slightly reconfigured, as it is each summer, that it has the chief executive that it wants "It would be very discourteous to a board to not have that opportunity."