Football Governance & Regulation - New Charter Leaked

[StanSP]

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-11703467/Government-football-charter-LEAKED-owners-unable-prove-source-wealth-BARRED.html

 

Quote

 

A new football charter is set to bring in drastic changes to the way the game is run, according to a leaked government paper seen by The Sun.

 

The charter is reportedly set to bring in new regulations on potential owners, including barring those who cannot prove their wealth is 'legitimate', provide an increased role in the running of clubs by fans and lead to the set-up of an independent football regulator. 

 

It is all part of The Football White Paper, which is expected to be published next week, following a Government-commissioned report into the game that took place back in November 2021.

 

Conservative MP Tracey Crouch had made the case for an independent regulator in her fan-led review of football, which was accepted by then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

However, the fan-led review was thrown into doubt last year with former PM Liz Truss reportedly not keen on it, before Rishi Sunak re-outlined his commitment to the plans when he entered office.

 

Regarding potential owners, the Government paper will mean that anyone who wants to take over a football club will have to prove the source of their wealth.

This means that those who are unable to prove they amassed their fortunes in a legitimate means won't be able to buy clubs and the report states this is being done to ensure only 'fit and proper custodians' can become owners.

This would have affected former Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich and kept the oligarch out of the Premier League, with the regulator expected to carry out significant due diligence on potentially undesirable investors.

Every team will also reportedly need to have sufficient funds and follow a new governance code in order to ensure they are financially stable. 

There is also set to be increased say for supporters in their clubs, who will be expected to have a minimum level of engagement in order to stop owners changing things like names, logos or colours without consultation.

This was the case in 2012 when Cardiff City owner Vincent Tan changed the club's colours from blue to red, before he reversed the decision in 2015 after fan protests. 

The report states a level of minimum standards will be enforced to ensure supporters are 'consulted on all key legacy decisions'.

Clubs will also help to fund an independent regulator who will have powers to stop teams from joining breakaway leagues unless they are approved by the regulator.

 

This regulator will be funded through teams being taxed an annual fee, with richer clubs paying more than smaller clubs.

It would reportedly then be able to also redistribute money from the Premier League to the lower leagues. 

Each club in the top five tiers of English football must also obtain a legal licence, and this will be achieved through the use of four separate criteria for teams to meet, with sanctions imposed for those who break the rules.

The criteria are reportedly ensuring the club has financial security, is run by fit and proper owners, has a suitable level of fan power and plays in approved league and cup competitions. 

Michelle Donelan, Culture Secretary, is reportedly keen for the independent regulator to be ready to go from the start of the 2024-25 season, with the proposals expected to be signed off by the Cabinet shortly.

 

While there is a hope the introduction of a regulator will reduce the chances of clubs going bust, with more than 60 doing so since the Premier League was launched in 1992, these proposals in the reported football charter are likely to cause controversy.

 

 

However, the new football charter is not expected to tackle other highly-controversial issues like rising ticket prices or the drinking of alcohol in stands while watching games - as is the case in some European countries.

 
 

 

 

Edited 2 February 2023 by StanSP

[Finnegan]

It'll change very little. 

 

It'll be used as a PR quick win by the current government to look like they care about common people and to try and claw back some public opinion while they're tanking. 

 

But it doesn't serve their interests to regulate the game, the more money in it the better for the economy. And there's already supposed to be fit and proper checks that get ignored anyway. I mean the Premier League pretending to believe that Newcastle aren't REALLY owned by Saudi Arabia was just ridiculous. 

 

It's just football being used as a political... well, yknow. 

[RoboFox]

Classic kite-flying leak. In theory some of this looks encouraging: The independent regulation and greater fan influence particularly.

 

BUT, none of it really means much when you’ve got a Tory government who’s more corrupt and immoral than any potential football investor.

[Scotch]

Potential owners shouldn't be allowed to buy teams using loans secured against the profits of the club. 

 

It's never sat well with me that teams can be bought using a loan and then the money to pay the loan is taken from that team. If a loan is secured to buy a club the owners should have to prove that they have enough income from other means to pay those loan repayments. 

[Lcfc098]

14 minutes ago, Scotch said:

Potential owners shouldn't be allowed to buy teams using loans secured against the profits of the club. 

 

It's never sat well with me that teams can be bought using a loan and then the money to pay the loan is taken from that team. If a loan is secured to buy a club the owners should have to prove that they have enough income from other means to pay those loan repayments. 

Our owners taken out a loan secured against future earnings of our club atm

[davieG]

1 hour ago, Lcfc098 said:

Our owners taken out a loan secured against future earnings of our club atm

Yeah but not to enable them to buy the club.

[KFS]

Big boys will remain unscathed and or find a way round it. Pointless for the premier league 

[Beechey]

1 hour ago, Lcfc098 said:

Our owners taken out a loan secured against future earnings of our club atm

No, our club did that

[The People's Hero]

LET'S GO FLY A KITE...........

 

The people, we say it looks like another paper tiger.

[Scotch]

3 hours ago, Lcfc098 said:

Our owners taken out a loan secured against future earnings of our club atm

Yeah, but not to BUY the club....

[davieG]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cnvz96qydqyo

 

Don't fear football regulator, league chief tells rich clubs

Claims an independent football regulator could stifle the growth of the Premier League and foreign investment in it are "complete nonsense", English Football League (EFL) chairman Rick Parry has told the BBC.

Under a change to a government bill going through Parliament, the proposed regulator will have a duty to avoid having a negative impact on the financial growth of the English game.

But a government source has played down reports No 10 is considering scaling back the regulator's powers as part of a wider move to cut bureaucracy.

Mr Parry said the changes being put forward would benefit the whole of the men's professional game, but well-off clubs had "nothing to fear" from them.

'Football regulator bill could be law by summer'
 

11 February
The Football Governance Bill, external is due to complete its House of Lords stages next week, after which it will be sent to the Commons for MPs to consider.

It would establish a regulator which is independent from government and the sport's authorities to oversee the men's game in England's top five divisions.

The regulator would set out mandatory conditions for clubs to meet, relating to corporate governance and financial reporting.

Clubs would also be required to provide "effective engagement" with fans on changes to ticket prices and any proposals to relocate home grounds.

Under "backstop powers", the regulator could intervene between the Premier League and the EFL if they fail to agree a deal to redistribute money to EFL clubs, many of which are cash-strapped.

Previous rounds of talks have collapsed.

The Premier League has repeatedly argued that English football is capable of regulating itself, and said it is critical that any external regulation is "proportionate".

It has warned of "unintended consequences of legislation that could weaken the competitiveness and appeal of ­English football".

'Light touch'
Bloomberg UK has reported, external that, following lobbying from Premier League owners, No 10 is looking again at some of the bill's measures, to ensure foreign investors are not discouraged from buying English clubs.

Both Sir Keir Starmer and Chancellor Rachel Reeves have put economic growth and investment at the centre of their programme for government.

Last week, the prime minister announced that NHS England would be abolished and brought under "democratic control" to cut bureaucracy.

He said for too long politicians had "chosen to hide behind vast arrays of quangos" - organisations funded by taxpayers but not directly controlled by the government.

However, the source at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, which is piloting the bill through Parliament, indicated to the BBC it was aligned with Downing Street on the need for a "light touch" football regulator.

Mr Parry told the BBC different parts of government often had different views.

But he said he was encouraged by the way ministers had successfully resisted attempts by Conservative peers to weaken the legislation in the Lords last week, with "an impressive whipping operation".

The impetus for an independent regulator has been years in the making, with several lower division clubs subjected to financial mismanagement and. in some cases like Bury and Macclesfield Town, complete collapse.

Mr Parry said many MPs, particularly in northern towns, were very aware that lower league football clubs were at "the heart of their communities".

'Unbridgeable chasm'
There was "not a shred of evidence" for Premier League clubs' arguments that their financial competitiveness could be undermined by the proposed regulator, he added.

"No one wants to kill the golden goose or impose unnecessary bureaucracy", but the Premier League had to "discharge its responsibilities", he argued.

Mr Parry pointed to a "growing gulf" between the Premier League and the EFL, saying an £11m gap in finances had soared to £3.3bn since the inception of the top tier in 1992.

An increasingly "unbridgeable chasm" was highlighted by the fact that all three clubs promoted from the Championship in 2023 had been immediately relegated the following season - and that was looking likely to happen again this season - he said.

The bill was initially introduced in March 2024 by the previous Conservative government, following a fan-led review headed by former sports minister Tracey Crouch.

But it ran out of parliamentary time when Rishi Sunak called a general election.

When it took office, Labour reintroduced the bill, promising to protect clubs' "financial sustainability".

Under Kemi Badenoch, the Tories have shifted their position and now oppose the bill.

Badenoch has argued it will be "a waste of money".

Mr Parry said he still wanted to engage with the Conservative leadership on the merits of a regulator, adding that he believed many grassroots Tories still backed the idea.

 

[Freeman's Wharfer]

Will be great for Premier League money to trickle down to us the way we’re headed