Fair Game clubs reaffirm commitment to Fan-Led Review and call for a reset of football’s financial flow
“The continuing delays to reform have only served to harden the resolve of Fair Game clubs. Football’s governance needs a reset. The financial flow needs an overhaul. We need legislation now”
Niall Couper, CEO, Fair Game
A NEW poll from Fair Game has revealed overwhelming support for reform of football, and full support of the Tracey Crouch Fan-Led Review. Fair Game polled its 34 clubs about their thoughts on the original 10 recommendations of the Review and added in two more “Financial distribution based on Fair Game’s Sustainability Index” and “Real-time financial reporting”.
The Sustainability Index scores all professional clubs on how well they perform on five measures: financial sustainability, good governance, equality standards, community engagement and fan engagement.
The clubs were asked to score each of the 12 out of 10, with 10 being the most important. Responses came back from owners, CEOs, chairs and board members and the results were clear - support for all the recommendations is as strong as ever.
Coming top of the pile was the introduction of an independent regulator, followed by the need to reset football’s financial flow.
Niall Couper, CEO of Fair Game, said:
“The continuing delays to reform have only served to harden the resolve of Fair Game clubs. We have been promised a regulator repeatedly over the last 12 months, but nothing has happened.
“Over that period, we have witnessed a toughening of our clubs’ resolve, with frustration morphing into a steely determination. The message from Fair Game is clear: Football’s governance needs a reset. The financial flow needs an overhaul. And We need legislation now.
“Our hope is to that our politicians and the authorities listen.”
Here are the results in full:
Creation of an Independent Regulator 9.12 (out of 10: 10 being very important)
Premier League to make additional, proportionate contributions to further support football 9.06
Regulator to oversee financial flow in football 8.82
Distribution of football's finances based on Fair Game's Sustainability Index 8.53
Regulator to oversee and manage a new Owners and Directors Test 8.47
Protection of key items of club heritage (colours, name, badge and town the club plays in) 8.41
Women's football to be treated with parity 8.29
Real-time financial reporting managed by a regulator 8.18
New approach to corporate governance 8.00
Every club to have a committed Equality, Diversity and Inclusion policy, which is assessed by a regulator 7.41
Welfare of players exiting the game to be better protected 7.35
Supporter Shadow Boards 6.29
