The English Football Association (FA) has selected a new chairman, and he has opined that an Englishman should succeed Italian Fabio Capello as the national team manager.

Former Manchester City chairman David Bernstein was chosen by the 11-member FA to take over, effective Feb. 1. The post had been filled on an interim basis by Roger Burden after the forced resignation of Lord Triesman last May; he'd accused Spain and Russia of trying to conspire to bribe referees at the 2010 World Cup. David Dein, former vice- chairman of Arsenal, had been considered the front-runner, but the four-person nomination committee submitted a recommendation of Bernstein to the  board, which approved him unanimously.

Regarding a successor to Capello, who has 18 months remaining on his contract, Bernstein said, “I’ve agreed with the people who interviewed me that the chairman of the FA needs to be involved with major decisions concerning the England set-up,” he said. “I will be involved with deciding his [Capello’s] future. I would prefer to see the best manager possible managing the English team. If he were to be English, that would probably be preferable. I think there is probably a national desire for that." Bernstein must also clear away the rubble of England's failed bid to host the 2018 World Cup.