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Select Committee · Culture, Media and Sport Committee

Sport governance

Status: Closed Opened: 8 Nov 2021 Closed: 5 Feb 2024 6 recommendations 5 conclusions 2 reports
Clear

Reports

2 reports
Title HC No. Published Items Response
Ninth Report - Football Governance HC 1288 30 Jun 2023 11 Responded
Seventh Report - Racism in cricket HC 1001 14 Jan 2022 0 Responded

Recommendations & Conclusions

3 items
3 Conclusion Ninth Report - Football Governance Accepted

Premier League fan engagement standards are inadequate for consistent high-quality club interaction.

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 …

Government response. 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.
Department for Culture, Media and Sport
5 Recommendation Ninth Report - Football Governance Accepted

Require IREF to set higher fan engagement licensing conditions independently of existing standards.

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 …

Government response. 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.
Department for Culture, Media and Sport
9 Conclusion Ninth Report - Football Governance Accepted

Football organisations must resolve revenue distribution deadlock to secure financial sustainability

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 …

Government response. 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.
Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Oral evidence sessions

7 sessions
Date Witnesses
28 Mar 2023 Debbie Hewitt MBE · The Football Association, Kevin Miles · Football Supporters' Association, Richard Masters · The Premier League, Rick Parry · English Football League, Tracey Crouch CBE MP View ↗
13 Dec 2022 Azeem Rafiq, George Dobell, Jahid Ahmed, The Lord Patel of Bradford OBE · Yorkshire County Cricket Club View ↗
24 Nov 2022 Bill Sweeney · Rugby Football Union, Carol Hart · Worcester Warriors community foundation, Judith Batchelar OBE · The Rugby Players Association, Robin Walker MP · Northern Ireland Office, Simon Massie-Taylor · Premiership Rugby View ↗
8 Feb 2022 Anuj Dal · Professional Cricketers' Association, Geoff Thompson MBE · Professional Footballers' Association, James Harris · Professional Cricketers' Association, Julian Metherell · Professional Cricketers' Association, Maheta Molango · Professional Footballers' Association, Rob Lynch · Professional Cricketers' Association View ↗
25 Jan 2022 Barry O’Brien · England and Wales Cricket Board, Gareth Williams · Glamorgan County Cricket Club, Martin Darlow · England and Wales Cricket Board, Mike O'Farrell · Middlesex County Cricket Club, Rod Bransgrove · Hampshire County Cricket Club, The Lord Patel of Bradford OBE · Yorkshire County Cricket Club, The Rt Hon. the Baroness Amos LG CH · England and Wales Cricket Board, Tom Harrison · England and Wales Cricket Board View ↗
7 Dec 2021 Adil Mehmood · Quaid e Azam Premier Cricket League, Basharat Hussain · Quaid e Azam Premier Cricket League, Tracey Crouch MP View ↗
16 Nov 2021 Alan Dickinson · England and Wales Cricket Board, Azeem Rafiq, Kate Miller · England and Wales Cricket Board, Meena Botros · England and Wales Cricket Board, Roger Hutton · Yorkshire County Cricket Club, The Lord Patel of Bradford OBE · Yorkshire County Cricket Club, Tom Harrison · England and Wales Cricket Board View ↗

Correspondence

9 letters
DateDirectionTitle
16 May 2023 To cttee Letter from Richard Masters, Chief Executive, Premier League, relating to the o…
18 Apr 2023 To cttee Letter from Rick Parry, Chair, English Football League, relating to the oral ev…
18 Apr 2023 To cttee Letter from Debbie Hewitt MBE, Chair, The Football Association, relating to the…
7 Mar 2023 To cttee Letter from Bill Sweeney, Chief Executive, RFU, relating to the oral evidence s…
14 Dec 2022 — Written evidence submitted by Azeem Rafiq
18 Oct 2022 To cttee Letter from Ben Wright, Director of External Affairs, Professional Footballers'…
16 Mar 2022 To cttee Letter from the Chair to Robin Smith, Former Chair, Yorkshire County Cricket Cl…
23 Nov 2021 To cttee Letter from Roger Hutton, former Chair, Yorkshire County Cricket Club, re follo…
16 Nov 2021 — Azeem Rafiq Witness Statement to the Leeds employment tribunal