Recommendations & Conclusions
11 items
1
Conclusion
Ninth Report - Football Governance
Acknowledged
We welcome the Government’s commitment to establish an Independent Regulator. Introducing a Shadow Regulator as soon as possible to recruit staff and begin engagement and preparatory work is invaluable for clubs, leagues and other football stakeholders might help avoid unintended consequences in the new regime that could lead to dissatisfaction …
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We welcome the Government’s commitment to establish an Independent Regulator. Introducing a Shadow Regulator as soon as possible to recruit staff and begin engagement and preparatory work is invaluable for clubs, leagues and other football stakeholders might help avoid unintended consequences in the new regime that could lead to dissatisfaction with IREF in the coming years. The final statutory powers, procedures and institutional location of IREF can be changed at a later date.
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Government response AI summary
The government agrees reform should happen sooner and is working at pace to deliver an independent regulator when parliamentary time allows. It states a formal shadow regulator would require a Bill's second reading but assures that preparatory work is happening regardless.
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Department for Culture, Media and Sport
2
Recommendation
Ninth Report - Football Governance
Deferred
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 Government should ensure the legislation needed to give statutory …
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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 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. (Paragraph 13) Fan engagement
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Government response AI summary
The government agrees on the importance of transitional arrangements but then entirely pivots its response to discussing fan engagement standards, the Regulator's role in oversight, and existing club engagement, without addressing the specific recommendation to establish a shadow regulator by end of 2023 or the …
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Department for Culture, Media and Sport
3
Conclusion
Ninth Report - Football Governance
Accepted
We welcome the Premier League’s fan engagement standard and commend the Premier League for acting prior to the publication of the White Paper. However, the level of fan engagement from Premier League and EFL clubs still varies wildly and we are surprised at the Government’s acceptance of the internal standard …
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We welcome the Premier League’s fan engagement standard and commend the Premier League for acting prior to the publication of the White Paper. However, the level of fan engagement from Premier League and EFL clubs still varies wildly and we are surprised at the Government’s acceptance of the internal standard as a baseline for fan engagement across football. We do not believe that IREF enforcing an equivalent of the measures in the Premier League Fan Engagement Standard will be enough to formalise consistently high-quality engagement in clubs.
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Government response AI summary
The government agrees that the Regulator should independently set fan engagement standards and will have legal authority to do so, assessing clubs and potentially applying additional licence conditions beyond current industry standards.
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Department for Culture, Media and Sport
4
Conclusion
Ninth Report - Football Governance
Deferred
The introduction of IREF remains a great opportunity to increase the pace of the important work that is already underway at football clubs consulting and engaging with their fans. Whilst clubs should be encouraged to exceed fan engagement standards and pursue best practice, this should be underpinned by the backstop …
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The introduction of IREF remains a great opportunity to increase the pace of the important work that is already underway at football clubs consulting and engaging with their fans. Whilst clubs should be encouraged to exceed fan engagement standards and pursue best practice, this should be underpinned by the backstop of a strong, independent regulatory framework.
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Government response AI summary
The government states the Regulator's primary focus will be on financial sustainability, systemic stability, and protecting club heritage, not the wider fan engagement standards or independent regulatory framework, which it believes are best led by the industry.
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Department for Culture, Media and Sport
5
Recommendation
Ninth Report - Football Governance
Accepted
IREF, beginning in shadow form, should ensure that its licencing conditions regarding fan engagement are set independently of the current Premier League Fan Engagement Standard. Unless there is immediate and significant change from leagues and clubs, we expect that IREF will be required to set and enforce a substantially higher …
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IREF, beginning in shadow form, should ensure that its licencing conditions regarding fan engagement are set independently of the current Premier League Fan Engagement Standard. Unless there is immediate and significant change from leagues and clubs, we expect that IREF will be required to set and enforce a substantially higher level of fan engagement for clubs to meet than the Leagues have set themselves, in order to ensure all clubs work to meet the needs of fans. (Paragraph 23) Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
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Government response AI summary
The government agrees that the Regulator should set fan engagement standards independently and will have legal authority to do so, assessing clubs' structures and outcomes, and potentially applying additional licence conditions to ensure higher levels of engagement.
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Department for Culture, Media and Sport
6
Conclusion
Ninth Report - Football Governance
Deferred
The inclusion of concrete, universal EDI measures in the new Football Governance Code is a necessary step to address the significant concerns about a lack of EDI oversight in football. The work on EDI done by the leagues to date has not been undertaken collaboratively and opportunities to pool resources …
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The inclusion of concrete, universal EDI measures in the new Football Governance Code is a necessary step to address the significant concerns about a lack of EDI oversight in football. The work on EDI done by the leagues to date has not been undertaken collaboratively and opportunities to pool resources to avoid duplicating work have been missed. We welcome the acceptance from the football authorities Football Governance 19 that they should be doing more to improve EDI outcomes across football. However, while we welcome the standards that organisations have introduced since 2014, the limited progress on EDI outcomes over the past decade means we are sceptical of the claims that this work will now suddenly be done collectively without the need for an industry standard through the Football Code.
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Government response AI summary
The government outlines its commitment to establishing the Independent Football Regulator with backstop powers to intervene on financial distributions and bringing forward legislation. However, it does not specifically address the recommendation for concrete, universal EDI measures in the new Football Governance Code.
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Department for Culture, Media and Sport
7
Recommendation
Ninth Report - Football Governance
Rejected
We recommend that, while in shadow form, IREF should look to existing corporate governance codes and work with stakeholders to ensure that substantive EDI measures are included in the new Code for Football Governance.
Government response AI summary
The government supports calls for EDI but rejects the recommendation for the Regulator (IREF) to include substantive EDI measures in the Code for Football Governance, stating that these wider issues are best led by the industry.
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Department for Culture, Media and Sport
8
Recommendation
Ninth Report - Football Governance
Rejected
We are concerned that the Government has ignored recommendations to include EDI Action Plans for clubs and oversight of these plans within IREF’s remit. We believe that IREF would be well placed to receive and publish standardised data on compliance with EDI requirements in football, as well as monitoring and …
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We are concerned that the Government has ignored recommendations to include EDI Action Plans for clubs and oversight of these plans within IREF’s remit. We believe that IREF would be well placed to receive and publish standardised data on compliance with EDI requirements in football, as well as monitoring and enforcing compliance with equality standards through EDI Action Plans. We recommend that the Government should give IREF the authority to mandate EDI Action Plans as part of its threshold licence conditions for clubs. Clubs’ performances against these Action Plans should be assessed regularly by IREF as part of its routine licence reviews. (Paragraph 36) The role of Football Authorities
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Government response AI summary
The government rejects the recommendation to give IREF authority to mandate and assess EDI Action Plans, stating that the Regulator's primary purpose is financial sustainability and wider EDI issues are best led by the industry.
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Department for Culture, Media and Sport
9
Conclusion
Ninth Report - Football Governance
Accepted
The financial sustainability of the football pyramid is the responsibility of football itself. Football organisations can, and should, be the ones to find a solution to the current deadlock of revenue distribution. We welcome that progress seems to have been made on a “New Deal” for football and a new …
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The financial sustainability of the football pyramid is the responsibility of football itself. Football organisations can, and should, be the ones to find a solution to the current deadlock of revenue distribution. We welcome that progress seems to have been made on a “New Deal” for football and a new revenue sharing model. However, it is clear that there is still distance between the Premier League and EFL. If this distance is not bridged soon, more clubs will be put at risk of collapse. It is right that IREF is given the powers to intervene in the interests of the wider game as a last resort, but football organisations ought to prove that these powers are not necessary. There is still time, before the establishment of IREF, for these organisations to get their act together to secure the financial future of the sport.
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Government response AI summary
The government echoes the Committee's call for football authorities to reach a financial agreement and reiterates its commitment to establishing a Regulator with statutory powers to intervene as a last resort, aligning with the Committee's conclusion.
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Department for Culture, Media and Sport
10
Recommendation
Ninth Report - Football Governance
Acknowledged
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. This should include no increase in the current level of parachute payments from the Premier …
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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. 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.
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Government response AI summary
The government echoes the Committee's call for football authorities to urgently reach a revenue sharing agreement and states that the future Regulator will have targeted powers to intervene as a last resort if they fail to agree.
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Department for Culture, Media and Sport
11
Recommendation
Ninth Report - Football Governance
Acknowledged
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. (Paragraph 44) 20 Football Governance
Government response AI summary
The government reiterates its commitment to establishing a Regulator with powers to intervene in financial distributions as a last resort, noting ongoing work to design this mechanism, but does not commit to expediting its establishment.
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Department for Culture, Media and Sport