Premier League chairman Richard Scudamore labels criticism from former FA bosses as a 'cheap shot'

Five ex-FA chairmen attacked the league's 'financial might'

Scudamore claimed the criticism of the Premier League was 'unfair' (Getty)

Premier League executive chairman Richard Scudamore has hit back at criticism from five former Football Association bosses saying their complaint about the league using its wealth to get its way is a "cheap shot".

The attack on the "financial might" of the Premier League came in an open letter from three ex-FA chairmen and two senior executives to the culture, media and sport select committee.

The letter asked MPs to consider legislation to force the governing body to make the much-discussed reforms to its governance structure so it can better represent the wider game against the Premier League's commercial interests.

But Scudamore completely rejected the premise of the letter.

"These are all people who used to work in football: we're still here doing what we do on a daily basis," said Scudamore.

"We're celebrating 10 years of the Kicks programme and this is going on up and down the country: 200,000 kids, 68 clubs, all doing this sort of stuff. So we'll just get on with the real job of organising football as best we can."

When asked if the implied criticism of the top flight's selfishness is fair, Scudamore said: "Of course it's not fair.

"First of all, the FA is the wealthiest football association in the world - they do with their money what they choose to do with their money.

"Second, we do more than any other league in world sport, or any other business, in terms of the amount of money we give away.

"It's all a cheap shot, it's all really unnecessary and I hope people see it for what it is."

The letter, which was signed by former chairmen David Bernstein, Greg Dyke and Lord Triesman and ex-directors David Davies and Alex Horne, said the FA was held by "elderly white men" on its 122-strong council, who resisted change and left an unrepresentative FA unable to counter the Premier League's power.

It pointed out that these failings have been debated many times in the past but the FA had proved completely incapable of reform and was now unsuited to cope with the demands of a "fast-changing world".

The five concluded by arguing that government-enforced reform might even "move us to redressing the woeful lack of English players or managers and the embarrassing failures of our national team for the past 50 years".