badenoch’s comments betray the football community

FAIR GAME has reacted with dismay to misguided comments made today by the Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch about a potential football regulator.

Niall Couper, CEO of the organisation that represents 34 men’s professional football clubs across the English football pyramid, said:

“Kemi Badenoch’s misguided assertion that an independent regulator for football would be a waste of money shows that she doesn’t understand the Bill and doesn’t understand - or doesn’t care about - football clubs and their role in the local economy and community.

“Over half of our top 92 clubs are technically insolvent and our national game in its current guise is not sustainable. But a Football Governance Bill that gives the regulator power to ensure a fair financial flow and to reward well-run clubs will help safeguard its future.

“As well as helping to maintain vital community assets, this will safeguard the jobs of thousands of employees across the country, both at clubs and at suppliers and sponsors of those clubs.

“Beyond this, Kemi Badenoch seems to have forgotten that the regulator will be paid for by levies on clubs, with the initial government spend being recouped over time.

“This was originally a Tory bill, and we call on all Conservatives not to lose sight of its importance now.”