Former Football Association chairman David Bernstein says the current crisis surrounding the FA was "an accident waiting to happen".
Chief executive Martin Glenn has denied trying to "blackmail" Eni Aluko after the former England Women forward claimed she was asked to make a statement that the governing body is not institutionally racist.
The disclosure from Aluko came during an incendiary appearance before the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport committee over the FA's handling of the Mark Sampson affair.
A four-hour hearing left Aluko "vindicated", with the session having opened with the publication of barrister Katharine Newton's reopened investigation into Aluko's claims of bullying and discrimination against Sampson.
Newton's second inquiry found that Sampson had made racist remarks to Aluko in 2014 and team-mate Drew Spence in 2015.
Speaking about the need for sweeping reforms at the FA, after it was suggested a lack of boardroom diversity contributed to the problem, Bernstein said: "This is an accident that's been waiting to happen.
"I've been advocating widespread reform for many years now."
He told BBC Radio 5 Live: "The FA came up with some minimal reforms that the Government unfortunately accepted.
"The whole issue of the size and make-up of the FA council, the independence of the FA board and the shareholding structure hasn't really been dealt with. We've missed a major opportunity and I'm not sure how we get it back.
"The organisation is still institutionally lost in the past. It's a governance issue; it's a structural issue."
Thirty-year-old Aluko told the panel on Wednesday that she has not received a "second tranche" of the £80,000 settlement she agreed with the FA earlier this year. That was a payment to avoid going to an employment tribunal following her allegations against former England Women manager Sampson.
Kick It Out's Paul Mortimer said the treatment of Aluko, who has not added to her 102 caps since speaking out, would put other players off coming forward.
"The minute she said something, her England career stopped," he said.
"The issue becomes forgotten and the person becomes the issue."
Source: PA
