By Simon Austin

What the Burns report says

Lord Burns says sacrifices will need to be made if his proposals for the restructuring of the Football Association are to be implemented.

Burns unveiled the proposals on Friday - and his suggestion for a new FA board is being seen as a dilution of the power of the Premier League.

"Everybody might perceive that they are giving up something," Burns said.

"But they need to give up something in the short term for the good of the game in the longer term."

Burns was asked to conduct a six-month review of the structure of the FA by the government, following a year of controversy for the organisation.

He said: "Hopefully I have a set of proposals that are both right and will gain ascent.

"Everybody has approached this in a very open and positive frame of mind."

But he admitted it could be difficult to push the proposals through.

It does require people to accept change and a lot of people are quite uncomfortable with change Lord Burns

"Three-quarters of the shareholder vote is required. It's quite a tough total (to gain).

Premier League clubs could have their representation on the FA board cut by half under the proposals.

The report into the structure of the FA also recommended appointing non-executive directors to the board.

The new 10 to 12 man board will have three representatives from the professional game - two from the Premier League.

"It does require people to accept change and a lot of people are quite uncomfortable with change," Burns said.

"I don't accept they (the Premier League) are special losers.

"There is a great deal in this for the professional game. The Premier League cannot be its own governing body."

Lord Burns also recommended creating a new Regulation and Compliance unit, to deal with disciplinary matters.

FA chairman Geoff Thompson welcomed Lord Burns' final report.

"The proposals are detailed and extensive and the board has undertaken to review them in detail at a special board meeting in the coming weeks," he added on the FA's official website.

Sports minister Richard Caborn urged the FA to heed the advice of Lord Burns' comprehensive report.

It is vital that this opportunity does not slip by and that the FA take up the challenge to implement the recommendations as soon as possible Richard Caborn Sports minister

"Football is our national sport but still has to realise its full potential," he said.

"The FA needs to become a flexible, responsive and more authoritative voice for football fit for the 21st century, not the 19th century.

"I congratulate them for identifying the need to modernise and this report provides the foundation for real progress to be made.

"It is vital that this opportunity does not slip by and that the FA take up the challenge to implement the recommendations as soon as possible."

The Government ordered the review in 2004 after a year of controversy for football's governing body in England.

The FA was hit by a series of scandals, including the resignation of chief executive Mark Palios following newspaper allegations concerning England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson's affair with FA secretary Faria Alam.

The FA subsequently ruled Eriksson had no case to answer regarding his conduct, although they concluded "deficiencies surrounding management procedures have been exposed".

The FA also come under fire for the way they dealt with Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand following the controversy of his missed drug test.