Source · Select Committees · Culture, Media and Sport Committee
Recommendation 11
11
Acknowledged
Expedite plans to establish Independent Regulator with power to mandate revenue sharing solution
Recommendation
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 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.
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
The Government strongly welcomes and echoes the Committee’s call on the football authorities to urgently reach an agreement on financial distributions. As set out in the Fan-Led Review of Football Governance and the subsequent White Paper, there is a clear and urgent need to reform financial distributions in English football. As such, the Government continues to urge the football authorities to reach a fair and reasonable agreement that promotes financial sustainability, sporting competition and international competitiveness across the entire football pyramid, thereby ensuring the continued success of English football at all levels. As set out in the White Paper, the Government’s strong preference is for a football-led solution and ideally there would be no need for regulatory intervention in financial distributions at all. However, we agree with the CMS Committee that although parties have had ample time, they have made slow progress on reaching an agreement. Given the importance of the structure and level of distributions for the financial sustainability of clubs across the pyramid, the Regulator will need to have targeted statutory powers to intervene as a last resort if football fails to reach an agreement. This backstop mechanism needs to be carefully designed to ensure it delivers the right outcomes and incentives with minimum regulatory involvement, which is why we are working with leading academics, regulatory and industry experts, and the clubs and leagues themselves to design an effective mechanism that encourages a lasting solution that works for football.