Football Association will attempt to protect right to be inadequate (4,5)
I believe the answer is:
fall short
'be inadequate' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'football association will attempt to protect right' is the wordplay.
'football association' becomes 'fa' (abbreviation).
'will' becomes 'll'.
'attempt' becomes 'shot' (I've seen this before).
'to protect' indicates putting letters inside.
'right' becomes 'r' (common abbreviation).
'shot' going around 'r' is 'short'.
'fa'+'ll'+'short'='FALL SHORT'
'to' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for fall short that I've seen before include "Be insufficient or inadequate" , "Fail" , "Not do enough" , "Let down" .)