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Independent football regulation is worth celebrating in the UK

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London, UK
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Following a fan-led review in 2021, the UK government announced plans to appoint an independent football regulator to oversee England’s top five leagues. That bill was introduced in parliament this week.

A landmark bill has been introduced in UK parliament this week confirming the creation of an independent regulator with the power to govern England’s top five leagues.

As the English football pyramid strives for boundless profit margins, fans have long felt like an afterthought in the decision making processes of clubs and sporting executives.

This feeling of alienation culminated in a fan-led review back in 2021, and the general consensus that an independent regulator should be instated to protect the game and elevate the voices of supporters beyond the stands.

With the prospect of such a bill mulled over in the media for three years – with Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville regularly broaching the topic on air – a comprehensive reform is now officially in the wheelhouse of the UK government as of Tuesday (March 19).

Though we await the small print and the finer details of the bill, crucially, we can bank that the regulator will be self-governing and not in cahoots with existing football authorities.

This new outfit will be ‘equipped with robust powers revolving around three core objectives: to improve the financial sustainability of clubs, ensure financial resilience across leagues, and to safeguard the heritage of English football,’ says the Department for Culture, Media, and Sport.

We know that this influence includes stricter vetting of prospective club owners and directors, a mandate to consult fans on off-field decisions about a club’s strategic direction or changes to club heritage, and the power to intervene if a deal cannot be agreed on financial distribution between the Premier League and the EFL.

Though several Premier League figures, including West Ham owner David Sullivan, have expressed concern about changing ‘a winning formula’ and inadvertently stemming interest in the domestic scene, several key events have highlighted the need to prioritise protecting the game.

The political storm in a teacup will no doubt continue, largely headed by those protecting their own interests, but this is undoubtedly a win for the fans… unless your club has something to hide, that is.

Without explicit safeguards, what is to stop another insidious ploy like the European Super League from springing out of the woodwork? For those unfamiliar, the owners of the traditional ‘big six’ clubs in England egregiously attempted to bin off the Premier League for an entirely new European league formula in April 2021.

This quite literally led to national uproar. Powerless to do anything else, fans across the country participated in massive protests to show their condemnation. Manchester United fans even managed to get a huge clash against Liverpool called off by storming the pitch before kick-off, and shortly after its club CEO Ed Woodward resigned.

Elsewhere, we saw financial mismanagement completely sink Bury and Macclesfield leaving fans of both understandably devastated. An independent regulator, in-theory, should be able to prevent history from repeating itself by ensuring clubs do not fall into the wrong hands in the first place.

On that note, after a certain Mike Ashley was hounded out of Newcastle United in October 2021 and replaced by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, Amnesty International’s plea for the Premier League to vet alleged human rights abuses related to the new consortium fell on deaf ears.

Who knows how that changing of the guard would have been handled with the impending framework in place.

Furthermore, could the bill have any bearing on ongoing breaches of the profit and sustainability rules – the likes of which have punished Everton and Nottingham Forest with points deductions in recent times.

The official announcement claims that fines may reach up to 10% of a club’s profit turnover under the new body if offences are discovered.

With 115 alleged charges of cheating dating back to 2009 hanging over the head of the Premier League’s current dominant force, Manchester City, it’d be overzealous to state that the integrity of English football has just been saved.

That being said, providing fans with a semblance of security is essential and an independent regulator acting on our behalf can provide that.

You can call us just ‘spectators’, but the game and institutions we love should not be fundamentally reshaped by billionaires and states without our consultation.

We’re the lifeblood of the sport, after all.

Tech Editor London, UK

I’m Jamie (He/Him), the Editor in Chief at Thred. Keeping up with gaming and revolutionary technology is my forte, but when away from my keyboard, you’ll probably find me wrapped around a large Tango ice blast at the latest mediocre horror flick. Follow me on Twitter, LinkedIn and drop me some ideas/feedback via email.

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