Kogan set for football regulator role after CMS committee endorsement
David Kogan looks set to be confirmed as chair of the football regulator after a Culture, Media and Sport committee gave him a qualified endorsement for the role.
In a report following his grilling by MPs on Wednesday, the committee said it was “content to endorse David Kogan OBE’s appointment as Chair of the Independent Football Regulator, recognising his vast experience in the football and media sectors.”
But it added there were concerns “concerns around his political impartiality” after he revealed at this week’s hearing that he had previously made donations to the Labour leadership campaigns of both Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy.
“We welcome his transparency and candour but recommend, in taking this role, he takes concrete steps to reassure the football community that he will act impartially and in a politically neutral way. We look forward to working with him constructively and holding him to account.”
In a letter to the committee published today, Kogan said his 2020 donations to Starmer and Nandy were each below £1,500 and pledged that he would make no further contributions.
“I would like to put on record again my commitment to make no more donations to any political cause and pledge total political impartiality throughout the tenure that I hold a public appointment, if I am fortunate enough to be appointed,” he said.
Committee chair Caroline Dinenage MP added: “We want to see the new Independent Football Regulator succeed, so it’s crucial that nothing undermines the regulator as it gets up and running.
“Mr Kogan must give 110 per cent when it comes to reassuring everyone in the game that he is his own man.”
The regulator’s establishment is subject to the Football Governance Bill’s passage through the Commons but, on current timelines, Kogan could take up the £130,000-a-year, part-time post in autumn this year.
The 67-year-old Tottenham Hotspur fan is best known for advising both the Premier League and EFL on the sale of its media rights but has also worked at the BBC and Reuters, and served as a director of Channel 4.
Kogan largely impressed in a robust performance in front of the committee, in which he warned that the football regulator would need adequate resources to defend itself against potential legal challenges from top clubs.
He also pledged that the watchdog would be proactive in helping smaller clubs to comply with its licensing regime, citing a Morning Wire article that detailed Lincoln City’s recent collaboration with staff from the shadow regulator.