Dulwich MP backs Fair Game and joins nationwide call for football to be rebooted
“Football needs to be rebooted and Fair Game have my support in their pursuit of building a future that secures our clubs for the long term.”
Helen Hayes, MP for Dulwich and West Norwood
The Labour MP for Dulwich and West Norwood Helen Hayes today became the latest high-profile politician to back Fair Game and their mission to transform the governance of football in England and Wales.
Fair Game is a group of 34 value-driven football clubs that is working with dozens of world-renowned experts to develop realistic long-term solutions to the problems our National Game faces.
Fair Game backs the recommendations of the recent Fan-Led Review chaired by Conservative MP Tracey Crouch, which includes the creation of an independent regulator, protection of a club’s heritage and traditions, and measures to ensure financial sustainability within football.
Helen Hayes said: “We have known for a very long time that football is broken, and I have long supported calls for an independent regulator to fix it.
“My local club Dulwich Hamlet have experienced the trials and tribulations of football first-hand. Covid-19 has hit National League clubs hard. And I have been working with the club to raise concerns with the UK Government about the ongoing financial impacts of the crisis has had on clubs such as DHFC in the National League.
“But there have been concerns around our national game long before Covid hit. And I applaud Fair Game for identifying them and looking to develop realistic long-term solutions.
“Football needs to be rebooted and Fair Game have my support in their pursuit of building a future that secures our clubs for the long term.
“The Review recommends that the Premier League should guarantee its financial support to the football pyramid and make additional, proportionate contributions to further support football. In addition, it calls for women’s football to be treated with parity and given its own dedicated review and for the welfare of players exiting the game – particularly at a young age – to be better protected as a matter of urgency.
“I believe the Government needs to accept all of the review’s recommendations, including both the principle and the detail of the independent regulator, which it should enshrine in law without any further delay and work with Fair Game to ensure that clubs are held accountable for the progress they make.”
To help enshrine the Review, Fair Game’s team of experts is proposing the introduction of a Sustainability Index. The Index will score all clubs from the Premier League to National League North and South, and the top two women’s league on four criteria: Financial sustainability, good governance, equality standards, and fan and community engagement. And then distribute the funds given to the EFL by the Premier League, currently around £380m, depending on how high clubs score on the Index.
Niall Couper, CEO of Fair Game, added: “The Fan-Led Review gave us the ingredients for change, the Sustainability Index provides the recipe and it is now up to politicians to serve it up.”
A Football Bill is expected to be included in the next Queen’s Speech in May and could become law in the next 12 months. Fair Game is also encouraging all football fans to sign a petition to show their support for the Index.
