FOOTBALL Association chair Greg Clarke told John Amaechi he would not risk pushing through reforms on diversity because it would get him “fucking fired,” the former NBA star claimed yesterday.

Amaechi, a leading psychologist and expert on organisational change, said Clarke also claimed the government would never force the FA to act on homophobia because “we have all the power and Fifa would step in and call it government interference.”

These alleged comments came during a “tense but civil” meeting at Amaechi’s office in London in March and will only heighten the pressure Clarke is already under for his mishandling of the Mark Sampson scandal.