English football’s lethargy made regulator inevitable, says Minister
LONDON: UK Sports Minister Nigel Huddlestone has justified the government’s support for an independent regulator for football on the basis that the game’s senior administrators had “run out of time.”
The Premier League says that a regulator is “not necessary” and that it has been working to “design and implement policies” in response to a fan-led review by former sports minister Tracey Crouch.
Huddleston, quoted by the BBC, said: “We’ve run out of time to let football sort this out themselves,” Huddleston told BBC Sport. “We’ve heard that again and again and we’ve been disappointed.
“The Premier League is an incredible success story. We want it to continue to be incredibly successful but we want the rest of the pyramid to be sustainable as well. The Premier League has a role in that.”
The led review followed a number of high-profile crises such as the putative European Super Leagu and the financial collapse of several clubs in the lower divisions.
On Monday the government said it will endorse the 10 recommendations in the review to “improve financial sustainability and corporate governance across our national game, and place fans squarely at the heart of decision-making”.
In its report the government says one of the key reasons reform is needed is because of the “significant risk of financial failure among clubs” and the “risk of harm” to the “cultural heritage of English football” should clubs go under.
The independent regulator will have power to sanction clubs in English football who break financial and other rules.
A new owners’ test will be introduced and legislation will give fans more say in the running of the game.
The government said it also looked at other issues raised by the review, including the sale of alcohol at grounds. Clubs are not allowed to sell alcohol in sight of the pitch and the government said it would consider pilot schemes in the lower leagues.
A white paper will be published in the summer but the Football Supporters’ Association has urged the government “to move fast and implement the fan-led review recommendations now”.
Huddlestone said: “We’ve been waiting quite a long time for football to sort out some of these issues. Unfortunately, they have failed so we’ve had to intervene. These are really big, drastic and quite complicated moves but the time is right.
“There is cross-party support for this as well as support from fans across the country.”
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