Football Association

London-based lawyer Rupinder Bains has joined the Football Association board as a non-executive director, the national governing body has announced.

Bains, the founder and managing director of law firm Pinder Reaux, will represent the interests of the professional game alongside the chairman of the Premier League's football board Peter McCormick and Scunthorpe United chief executive James Rodwell.

Her arrival brings the number of women on the board to two, following Buildbase chief executive Kate Tinsley's appointment as an independent director last month. Bains will also join the FA Council.

In a statement, she said: "I'm very proud and honoured to be offered this role within the Football Association.

"This is an organisation with fantastic history and traditions, governing a huge constituency of footballing personnel from grassroots up to international level.

"It is a significant moment in the governance of the FA and I am delighted to be embarking on a journey looking at the broader issues and I am hoping to be able to contribute to the evolving and developing nature of the Football Association and to the most widely supported sport in the world."

Before this summer, Bains would have needed to hold a position at a club or league to be one of the professional game's representatives but the rules were relaxed as part of the raft of reforms the FA brought in to meet sports minister Tracey Crouch's new governance code.

FA chairman Greg Clarke welcomed Bains onto the board saying she had a "demonstrable track record of success in business and a good knowledge of football from her legal and commercial work".

Carlisle striker Shaun Miller faces becoming the first player in English football to be retrospectively banned for diving after being charged by the Football Association.

The 30-year-old has been charged with 'successful deception of a match official', a new offence which came into force from the start of the season and carries a two-match suspension.

The FA said in a statement: "It is alleged he committed a clear act of simulation which led to a penalty being awarded in the 35th minute of the game against Wycombe Wanderers on 17 October 2017."

The penalty was converted and the League Two match ended in a 3-3 draw.

The charge came after a panel of one ex-match official, one ex-manager and one ex-player unanimously agreed, after independently reviewing video footage of the incident, that an offence had been committed.

The FA announced the introduction of the new offence in May to deal with cases where there is "clear and overwhelming evidence to suggest a match official has been deceived by an act of simulation, and as a direct result, the offending player's team has been awarded a penalty and/or an opposing player has been dismissed".

A charge is only issued if the panel reviewing the incident is unanimous in its agreement.

Miller has until 6pm on October 19 to respond to the charge.