By Frank Dalleres
A football regulator should be established in shadow form by the end of the year and given statutory powers before the next general election in order to prevent more clubs going out of business, MPs have said.
The Culture, Media and Sport Committee also urged the Premier League and English Football League to thrash out a new revenue distribution model in order to safeguard the future of lower league teams.
If no swift solution to the long-running talks is found, the government should bring forward its plans for an independent regulator, they added in a report published today.
“We recommend that the Government should establish the Independent Regulator for English Football in a shadow form by the end of 2023 to ensure that it can begin initial engagement and preparatory work before waiting for legislation to be passed,” the report says.
“The Government should ensure the legislation needed to give statutory powers to the Independent Regulator are included in the forthcoming King’s Speech and ensure that legislation is passed in this present Parliament.”
Consultation on the future of English football began in April, prompted by the collapse of Bury FC and the European Super League breakaway attempt by Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City and Manchester United.
Establishing a football regulator in shadow form would allow it to recruit staff and begin engaging with clubs to prepare them for its full implementation.
Government should bring that forward if no progress is made on the so-called New Deal for Football between the Premier League and EFL so that the regulator can enforce changes to the way money filters down the pyramid, the CMS Committee added.
“If there are no immediate signs of progress on revenue sharing, the Government should expedite its plans to establish the Independent Regulator with the power to mandate a solution,” the report says.
The CMS Committee said controversial parachute payments should not be increased, but stopped short of siding with the EFL’s calls for them to be replaced altogether.
“We urge football authorities, including the Premier League, EFL and the FA, to urgently reach an agreement on sharing a higher proportion of revenue with clubs down the football pyramid before the establishment of IREF,” they said.
“This should include no increase in the current level of parachute payments from the Premier League but should include an increased, strategic redistribution of income from all Leagues down to the grassroots of football.”
The top flight currently distributes more than £500m to teams in the three divisions below, but more than half is in the form of parachute payments to relegated teams which, EFL chairman Rick Parry argues, distorts competition.
Premier League chief executive Richard Masters told the CMS Committee in April that parachute payments helped make clubs more sustainable and competitive.
