Team Blitz India
LONDON: A historic legislation to reform the governance of men’s elite football in England and put fans back at the heart of the game has been introduced in Parliament.
The Bill comes at a critical juncture for English football, following the attempted breakaway European Super League, and a series of high-profile cases of clubs being financially mismanaged or collapsing entirely, said a statement from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
The legislation goes further than the Government’s manifesto commitment, establishing the new ‘Independent Football Regulator’ (IFR) as a standalone body – independent of both Government and the football authorities, the release added.
The body will be equipped with robust powers revolving around three core objectives: to improve financial sustainability of clubs, ensure financial resilience across the leagues, and to safeguard the heritage of English football.
Under the Football Governance Bill, new owners and directors will face stronger tests to stop clubs falling into the wrong hands, and face the possibility of being removed and struck off from owning football clubs if they are found to be unsuitable.
The Bill also includes new backstop powers around financial distributions between the Premier League, the English Football League (EFL) and National League. These powers mean that if the leagues fail to agree on a new deal on financial distributions, then the backstop can be triggered to ensure a settlement is reached.
For the first time, clubs from the National League (Step One in the football pyramid) all the way to the Premier League will be licensed to compete in men’s elite football competitions in England. The proposed licensing regime will be proportionate to any problems, size and circumstances and involve a system of provisional and full licences, to give clubs time to transition.
