Richard Scudamore’s elevation from CEO to Premier League chairman at Thursday's club summit will also see the world’s richest league have a new-look set of directors. But the board will remain remarkably different from the company director structure at the top of other multi-billion-pound businesses. The three-strong PL version is expected to consist of just Scudamore and two newly appointed independent directors to be unveiled on Thursday, who will hopefully provide some gender and race diversity. Richard Scudamore (left) will be elevated from CEO to Premier League chairman at Thursday's club summit and be joined by two newly appointed independent directors . FA chairman Greg Dyke will be under pressure to explain his campaign for more homegrown players . The formation, which will need a change of PL statutes, is at least a step nearer fit-for-purpose governance than the current two-man board of Scudamore and Peter McCormick, the interim chairman who is standing down. The PL still regard their six-times-a-year club summits as board meetings with their 20 shareholders, despite most of the top-flight foreign owners never bothering to attend. Meanwhile, FA chairman Greg Dyke has tended to keep quiet in PL meetings, but he will be under pressure on Thursday to explain his campaign for more homegrown players in PL squads to help the national team. Dyke has strong backing from UEFA for this initiative, which hasn’t been supported by the PL representatives on the FA board. It will not please Derby fans but the strong word is that their manager Steve McClaren is heading for Newcastle at the end of the season, irrespective of whether County are promoted. It would seem odd for McClaren, who will not comment about his future, to swap the solid Derby set-up for the madness of St James’ Park, but football rarely fails to surprise. Derby manager Steve McClaren is looking a strong possibility to head to Newcastle at the end of the season . Surrey were seemingly expecting their entire global membership to buy tickets for Kevin Pietersen’s return this season, judging by emails received on Wednesday from Ticketmaster confirming the purchase of seats. The botched memos went to the full Surrey database, much to the county’s embarrassment, with a phone message on the Oval ticket office voicemail telling callers to disregard the mass posting. Ticketmaster are infamous for their computer system continually crashing during the sale of London 2012 Olympic seats. Kevin Pietersen's signing back at Surrey coincided with a bothed mass email to members about tickets . Giles Clarke, who stands down as ECB chairman in May, has been the loudest autocratic voice on most English cricket issues since he took the helm in 2008. Yet Clarke has chosen to stay noticeably silent on Kevin Pietersen’s return to Surrey. The Football League are taking a lot longer than promised to probe the Financial Fair Play returns of Leicester and QPR. The Leicester issue centres on a Far East marketing deal to offset losses, agreed with a Sheffield agency owned by former Premier League chairman Sir Dave Richards and his son. And investigating QPR owner Tony Fernandes writing off £60million of debts to counter massive breaching of FFP limits is proving hard enough without the extra difficulties of CEO Phil Beard having left the club and finance director Rebecca Caplehorn moving to Spurs. Threat to Becks project . There are concerns at the top of US football that David Beckham’s Major League Soccer plans are in danger of running out of time. Beckham has spent more than a year being frustrated by complex state and city Miami politics stopping him finding a suitable stadium site. US football heads are fearing David Beckham’s Major League Soccer plans could out of time . And US chiefs do not believe the proposed venue close to the Marlins baseball arena is the right location. Powerbrokers say Beckham should build a waterfront downtown ground to maximise the appeal of the new franchise. Team Beckham remain 100 per cent confident that the project will work and are concentrating on funding that will determine the club’s ambitions. Sajid Javid, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, who has shown no interest in sport during his year in the job, bizarrely chose the last week before the election recess to make his first speech on the subject. Javid’s views on sport investment away from national governing bodies have credence, but why did he bother when he won’t be coming back to the DCMS?
Premier League CEO Richard Scudamore to be made chairman . His elevation on Thursday will come at the latest league summit . It coincides with the appointment of two independent directors . Derby boss Steve McClaren is strongly tipped for Newcastle move . Fears that David Beckham’s MLS plans in Miami are running out of time .