Premier League Chief Executive, Richard Masters, has penned an article for The Times in which he warns of unintended consequences should the Football Governance Bill become law and the domestic game be regulated independently.
Introduced last month, the Bill proposes the formation of an Independent Football Regulator (IFR), a standalone body that would be independent of both the Government and the football authorities, and would have three core objectives as explained in the manifesto: “to improve financial sustainability of clubs, ensure financial resilience across the leagues, and to safeguard the heritage of English football.”
Masters assured Parliament in January that he would not lobby against an independent regulator but the Premier League recently placed an advert on the Politico website to get their message in front of the eyes of the politicians who will vote on the Bill and its CEO has taken the opportunity and forum of one of the leading national newspapers to caution against the “unprecedented power over the sport” the IFR would have and his concern than it “would reduce our competitiveness and weaken the incredible appeal of the English game.
“We are asking MPs and peers to protect the game, including the Premier League, which not only helps sustain the football pyramid for the benefit of fans but also contributes £4 billion in annual tax revenues and creates 90,000 jobs across the country. The unintended consequences of regulation generate significant risks.
“It is a risk that regulation will undermine the Premier League’s global success, thereby wounding the goose that provides English football’s golden egg.
“It is a risk to regulate an industry that has worked so hard to lead the world, especially when none of its competitors are subject to the same regulation.
“It is a risk to introduce uncertainty and red tape into an industry that relies heavily on a relatively small pool of investors, who often see club ownership as a passion project as well as a business. While the sport is buoyant today, it would be so easy to misstep and drive our world-leading investment elsewhere.
“It is a risk to bring politics and lobbying into football, especially when there are also genuine concerns regarding how truly independent the regulator will be.
“The government claims its regulator would not interfere on the pitch, but by intervening in the carefully calibrated distribution of revenues and upsetting competitive balance, it would already be doing exactly that.
“Finally, it is a risk to rush through complex legislation at the end of a parliament, especially when there is a danger of it unbalancing our national sport. The past tells us that rushed legislation is usually bad legislation. Parliamentarians need time to scrutinise this unprecedented plan, and I hope they will be as determined as I am to ensure that no harm is done to English football. Fundamentally, we all need to remember that the people who will suffer the most, if this goes wrong, are the very fans whose interests the legislation aims to protect.”