Sports Minister Tracey Crouch says the Government may have no choice but to intervene if reforms of the Football Association are deemed unsatisfactory.

Crouch announced in the summer that upwards of £30m in public money would be withdrawn from the FA in April should it fail to push through with a restructure.

A group of five former FA chairmen and chief executives wrote to MP Damian Collins asking the chair of the select committee for culture, media and sport to propose legislative intervention.

That letter has already drawn criticism from FA chairman Greg Clarke, who called it “ill-judged.”

There are concerns intervention could draw unwanted attention from the world governing body, who have the power to ban nations whose associations do not operate independently or are subject to political interference.

But Crouch was defiant when the possibility of a World Cup ban in 2018 was put to her, telling the BBC: “Looking at what it says in the FIFA regulation it is incredibly wide in terms of the interpretation of government involvement.

“Actually just saying, ‘I’m going to remove public funding’ could be interpreted as government interference in the running of the Football Association. I think FIFA needs to look at its own governance structures before it starts throwing its weight around in terms of other football associations.

“The fact is we need to reform the FA, the FA knows that.

“We want to make sure they have the right board in place, with independents, with better female representation, with more primacy over the FA council.

“If they don’t, not only are they going to lose public money, which is embarrassing for them, but there is still potential for legislation in the future.

“I think it’s time they really did pull their socks up and start to reform.”