Regan steps aside as Scottish FA boss talking of a ‘need for change’

Stewart Regan

February 2 – A month before he was due to take part in a key vote to decide the future of video technology, Stewart Regan has stepped down as chief executive of the Scottish Football Association after eight years saying he recognised the “need for change”.

Regan, a key member of the International FA Board which is due to convene on March 2 to decide whether to introduce video assistant referees globally, left his post after taking heavy criticism over lack of an appointment to succeed Gordon Strachan as coach of the national team.

Former SFA chief executive Gordon Smith has described the situation as an “embarrassment” but Regan said he was proud of what he had achieved in “modernising, protecting, developing and promoting” football in Scotland even though they missed out on qualification for the World Cup.

“While it has been tough, I am proud to leave having overseen a period of significant change and substantial growth,” Regan said in a statement.

“We are now at another staging point and I recognise that it is now time for further change. I have decided to step aside to allow new leadership to take the organisation forward.

Chief operating officer Andrew McKinlay will manage the day-to-day business during the interim period and will presumably take Regan’s place in Zurich when IFAB, the game’s lawmaking body comprising Fifa and the four British associations, decides  whether to approve VARs in time for the World Cup.

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