|
At the end of last month the Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee released a major report on the way football is run in this country, here are some of the more important points from that report which the committee recommended:
1. Imposing a rigorous and consistent formal licensing model throughout professional English football to promote sustainable forward-looking business plans and underpin self-regulation measures introduced by the Premier League and the Football League, and financial fair play regulations being introduced by UEFA
2. A strong fit and proper persons test consistently applied, with a presumption against selling the ground unless it is in the club’s interest. The committee says "there is no more blatant an example of lack of transparency than the recent ownership history of Leeds United" and urges the FA to investigate if necessary with the assistance of Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs.
3. Abolishing the Football Creditors Rule: the committee says it "epitomises the extent to which financial priorities are being distorted" and recommends that if the HMRC fails in its legal challenge to the rule, and football authorities do not address it, Government should consider scrapping it through legislation.
4. The new financial regulations adopted by the Premier League and the Football League mark a welcome shift in emphasis to engaging with the financial challenges inherent in the current model of English football. There are, however, legitimate concerns as to whether they go far enough or will be consistently applied, particularly in the Championship where there is a risk that the increased parachute payments from the Premier League to relegated clubs will have a destabilising effect on other clubs as they try to match their spending power. We urge the FA to broker discussions with the Premier League and Football League to review the balance between parachute payments and solidarity payments.
5. The Minister set a challenge to come up with proposals to promote wider supporter ownership. We recommend that he look at two areas: measures to assist clubs that are already supporter-owned, particularly options that increase their ability to raise money; and measures that increase the opportunity for supporters trusts to achieve a share in their clubs, whether on a minority or majority basis.
6. We would not wish by any means to rule out or discourage foreign ownership of English clubs. It is a reality that English clubs can be bought and sold more freely than in other major football-playing countries. A strong case can, therefore, be made that because more owners from different backgrounds—both domestic and foreign—are looking to purchase English football clubs, particularly robust criteria for ownership need to be applied before they are allowed to own a club in English competitions.
7. The development of technical expertise in coaching is central to the future of the game in England. There appears to be clear evidence of historic drift that has left England far behind its main European competitors. We welcome the fact that the FA is now making a concerted effort to address the problem, and suggest that our recommendation of the appointment of the Director of Football Development to the FA Board would help to sustain the momentum.
8. We recommend that the FA review expenditure at the grass roots. It should benchmark spending on the grassroots against the leading European countries, comparing both absolute funding and funding as a proportion of generated income, to help form a view as to whether English football should be spending more on this important component of the game, with a particular emphasis on coaching education. The FA should also publish a more detailed account of funding for youth development and training activities.
9. Almost all our recommendations for the reform of football governance can be achieved through agreement between the football authorities and without legislation. We therefore urge the football authorities to consider our Report carefully, and to respond positively with an agreed strategy and timetable for change. As a last resort, in the absence of substantive progress, we recommend that the Government consider introducing legislation to require the FA to implement the necessary governance reforms in line with its duties as a governing body.
10. Amending the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 to recognise the special nature of supporters trusts and help them overcome the significant legal and bureaucratic hurdles they face when raising funding - the Government should also consider legislation to protect minority supporter stakes where they are facing a compulsory purchase order.
To view the whole report go to http://www.parliament.uk/
|