The Boris Johnson government on Monday announced it intended to create an independent regulator to oversee the functioning of football clubs. AFP reported “Ministers support the idea of a regulator for football in England backed by legislation to provide it with statutory powers to license and sanction clubs and have financial oversight of their operations.”
The plans for forming a regulator come after a review of clubs' functioning was released last November. The review, which was led by former sports minister Tracey Crouch, had argued for creating an “independent regulator for English football (IREF)” to prevent the sport from “lurching from crisis to crisis”.
The new regulator is expected to have powers to penalise clubs that break rules on finances and other matters. “No direct timeline for implementing the changes has been announced but the government said a white paper—policy documents which set out proposals for future laws in detail—will be published in the summer. The new regulator will be backed by laws, which allow it to hand out punishments and have financial oversight of clubs, meaning it can investigate and gather information,” the BBC reported.
The regulator will also apply tests related to ownership and management of clubs. The plan comes amid criticism of a Saudi-backed takeover of Newcastle United in October last year and confusion over Roman Abramovich's ownership of Chelsea following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The Premier League has remained opposed to attempts to institute an independent regulator. Thus, the government's announcement is considered a milestone in the history of the league. “Despite the turmoil sparked by the attempted European Super League, controversy over the Saudi takeover of Newcastle United, and financial meltdown at Derby County, the Premier League had still hoped to persuade ministers to let the FA act as regulator. But the chaos at Chelsea after the sanctioning of Russian owner Roman Abramovich was perhaps seen as one footballing crisis too many and the government may have felt it had no choice but to back the key recommendation of Crouch...,” the BBC reported.
In a statement to the Press Association, Crouch said “I am exceptionally pleased [the government] has accepted or supported all the strategic recommendations of the review, including committing to legislation for a statutory independent regulator, which will regulate financial resilience as well as ownership of clubs.” However, she added she was nervous “that this commitment will be delayed or watered down by the vested and conflicted interests in the game which have resisted the much-needed reform for so long. Further delays could be catastrophic for clubs, communities and fans seeking a more secure and certain regulatory environment”.
