Premier League calls emergency summit to solve cash row with English Football League
Premier League chiefs have convened an emergency meeting of clubs next week in a bid to end a long-running impasse over how much money to give to lower division teams.
The summit has been called to thrash out a so-called New Deal for Football, which will dictate how the top-flight’s billions are shared with clubs in the English Football League in future.
It comes amid growing pressure from the UK government, which has threatened to hand the matter to the incoming independent football regulator, and was first reported by Sky News.
Premier League boss Richard Masters and his EFL counterpart Rick Parry have both been quizzed by MPs at select committees in recent months as the talks have dragged on.
The EFL is in line for a significant hike on the £130m a year in solidarity payments that its clubs currently receive from the top flight.
One proposal discussed last year would see that figure almost double over the next three years and then increase again thereafter.
It is less than the 25 per cent of pooled revenues that the EFL was believed to be seeking, but it is not the only issue that has held up an agreement.
The Premier League also wants to retain controversial parachute payments, which help relegated teams cope with the severe drop-off in revenue, but the EFL wants to scrap the system, arguing that it makes it harder for other clubs to compete.
Culture secretary Lucy Frazer met with club bosses from the top flight and lower tiers last week, when she is said to have urged them to resolve their differences before further details of the football regulator are announced.
Frazer is due to publish the Football Governance Bill, which will mandate a watchdog to oversee the financial running of the professional game, in the coming weeks.