No10: Government ‘absolutely committed’ to independent football regulator
The government has insisted it remains “absolutely committed” to the incoming football regulator despite chancellor Rachel Reeves’ desire to slash bureaucratic bodies.
Reports suggested that plans to get rid of a number of quangos, as well as Reeves’ opinion that regulators are “too slow to get things done”, could have resulted in the Football Governance Bill, which would introduce the independent regulator, being binned.
But a spokesperson for No10 insisted Keir Starmer’s government backs the regulator’s introduction, which continued its passage through the House of Lords yesterday afternoon.
“We are absolutely committed to introducing an independent football regulator to put fans back at the heart of the game,” they said.
“Ministers have been consistently clear that the bill, which continues to progress through Parliament, will introduce a light touch set of rules to improve the sustainability of clubs and help ensure the game continues to thrive in communities for generations to come.”
Hundreds of amendments were tabled to the bill, not all of which were successful, from the likes of West Ham vice-chair Baroness Brady. More than 100 were jointly suggested by Labour peers Baroness Taylor of Bolton and Lord Bassam of Brighton.
Football regulator warring sides
But the Football Governance Bill has seen both the Premier League, which runs the top flight, and the English Football League, which runs football for the next 72 clubs in the pyramid, on opposite sides of the debate.
The Premier League wants as little regulation as possible within the football regulator, arguing that too much red tape would hold the league back.
The EFL, on the other hand, wants a regulator that can ensure that it gets a better distribution of the profits from the very top of the game.
And the regulator, if it goes through the House of Lords and Commons in the way the government desires, will have those backstop powers to help resolve – or even impose – a financial settlement relating to the financial distribution. The current figure is approximately £530m a year but deal talks have stalled.
The regulator will, however, face obstacles from the Conservative benches, with leader Kemi Badenoch recently saying she was “opposed” to the bill.
The regulator will be one of the biggest changes to the way football is governed across the English pyramid in history.
And reports of it being touted for the scrapheap came just days after the government decided to do away with the “world’s largest quango” in NHS England.