A landmark moment in English football occurred on Tuesday when the Football Governance Bill, which would create an independent football regulator, was introduced in the UK Parliament.
In November 2021, a fan-led review called for the introduction of a regulator, and the government announced plans to introduce one in February 2023.
The regulator will be independent from both government and football authorities. It would also allow them to prevent breakaway competitions such as the European Super League, take control over the allocation of funds and scrutinize future owners and directors of clubs.
Here, Matt Slater and Peter Ratzler explain when the regulator will be introduced, how much it will cost and how the football world has responded.
When does the regulator actually start working?
The regulator is the centerpiece of the Football Governance Bill, which had its first reading in Parliament on Tuesday.
The bill still needs to be read two more times in the Commons, examined by a parliamentary committee and passed by the House of Lords before receiving Royal Assent and becoming law.
But the idea has bipartisan support, so it should pass these steps without any problems. The only impasse would be if the current parliament expires and a general election is scheduled by the end of the year. But still, the bill is likely to be far enough along that it will only get a nod in the so-called “washout” process before the election.
This bill has bipartisan support (Darren Staples – WPA Pool/Getty Images)
This means that if all goes well, an independent football regulator should be in place by early 2025.
It has not yet been decided who will run the company or where it will be based, but the process of hiring a chairman has begun, and that person will be responsible for appointing the management team.
How much will the regulator cost and who will pay for it?
Given a budget of £10m, which will be funded by a levy on clubs subject to the regulatory regime, we have a feeling how big the new body will be. These are 116 clubs from the Premier League, English Football League and National League.
The greatest burden will fall on the broadest shoulders. In other words, the Premier League will bear the largest share of the burden, and top-tier high-income earners will bear the largest share. Assuming the Premier League pays around 80 per cent of the budget and its share is distributed in a similar way to Premier League broadcasting income, the most successful clubs will pay around £600,000 a year.
For context, a football regulator would be much smaller and cheaper than something like the Gambling Commission or the Communications Authority, commonly known as Ofcom. And it will be a fraction of the size of the Financial Conduct Authority, which employs more than 4,000 people and has a budget of £755m.
At Tuesday's meeting of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Football, Tracy Crouch, the spiritual mother of the bill and the former sports minister who wrote the report outlining the basis for the 2021 independent regulations, said: he said. itself.
“There are provisions in the bill that have a lot to do with the levy. Obviously, it will be portable – so people at the bottom of the pyramid won't be able to pay as much as people at the top – but it Lasts over time.
“It is in the interests of football that we get this right. It is in the interests of football that football is properly regulated. There will be great transparency in how it operates and is run.”
What powers will the regulator have?
What football will get for that money is detailed on page 130 of the bill and in an attached document. A key focus is the club's licensing regime to ensure compliance with financial regulations, fan engagement and the protection of the club's heritage.
The regulator will also be responsible for vetting a club's future owners and directors and ensuring that their custodians continue to meet the necessary standards, and will be responsible for ensuring that clubs participate in breakaway competitions such as the European Super League. It also has the power to prevent. , if it is meritocratic and not open and also threatens the sustainability of the domestic league.
But the most controversial tool is the so-called backstop power, which forces games to enter into financial settlements if they feel they can no longer fulfill their original function of ensuring financial sustainability. Dew.
This level of intervention must be triggered by either league if certain thresholds are met. These occur when the distribution mechanism between leagues breaks down, or when there are significant changes in circumstances that affect shared revenue, such as new media rights agreements.
Protests against the European Super League (Rob Pinney/Getty Images)
As for other weapons, perhaps the most eye-catching is the ability to impose fines of up to 10 per cent of a club's annual revenue for serious breaches of the licensing system.
Regulators could also fine individuals or, in the worst cases, force clubs to sell.
When will regulators enforce financial settlements?
How and when the regulator will use this power has been the subject of considerable speculation in recent months, as no agreement has been reached on a new financial distribution model that Premier League clubs can propose to the EFL.
The government expects a “new football deal” to be agreed between the leagues before the regulator is established, making the backstop's powers moot for the time being.
Even now that we all know there is a new sheriff, something like this could still happen.
Why was the regulator introduced?
The fan-led review may have required the regulator, but it was itself prompted by two key moments in English football.
The first was the collapse of historic club Bury in 2019, which led to a promise of a review in that year's Conservative party manifesto. The review was then brought forward as the six biggest clubs in English football – Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur – attempted to join the breakaway European Super League.
One of the 10 strategic recommendations recommended as part of the fan-led review was the introduction of an independent regulator. Both long and short, significant collapses and unprecedented attempts by the “big six” to break away led to regulators.
Premier League CEO Richard Masters (right) (Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
How did the Premier League react?
The EFL, the Football Association, the Football Supporters' Association and government ministers including Chancellor Rishi Sunak have already expressed hope that the regulator can start work as soon as possible, but the Premier League has made its concerns clear.
In a statement released on the eve of the bill's reading, the Premier League said it “remains concerned about the unintended consequences of the bill, which could reduce the competitiveness and attractiveness of English football.”
What about EFL?
Asked about the risk on Tuesday, EFL chairman Rick Parry said: “Nothing will change the competitiveness of the Premier League.
“Looking back at 2009, when the Premier League was the number one league in Europe, there were teams who won the Champions League in three of the five years and three of the four teams advanced to the semi-finals, but the cost was high.”Next The annual salary is 600 million higher than the average league.
“By 2019, that gap had widened to £1.6bn and increased by a further £1bn. By 2022, while we were all talking about this, The difference has widened to £2bn.
“That gap is only going to widen, so the idea that the Premier League is going to be unfairly tied down or uncompetitive, I don’t even know how that argument gets across.”
(Top image: Neil Hall – Pool/Getty Images)
