Greg Dyke has described the Football Association as "the old men of English football" and branded them "stupid enough" to fight reforms.
The FA's failure to modernise will be debated by MPs in Parliament on Thursday, with sports minister Tracey Crouch warning the association that it could lose up to £40m of funding if it does not go down that path.
The FA Council has 122 members, 90 of whom are aged over 60, while just eight are women and only four are from ethnic minorities.
"You shouldn't underestimate the old men of English football. They've seen off all sorts of people over the years," former FA chairman Dyke told BBC Sport.
"Government are now saying if you don't do these things you'll lose money and we won't support you in the future. Who knows, they are stupid enough to say 'we're going to fight it anyway'.
"There needs to be radical change. You've got to have younger people there, more women, supporters, ethnic minorities - it's got to change.
"The Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee has produced two papers over the years that have both pressed for change and both been completely ignored by this bunch of old guys."
Last year, five former FA executives - including Dyke - called on the government to pass legislation to force through FA reform.
Giuseppe Labellarte
