Football Bill leaves door open to sportswashing, reveals Fair Game
“If the Bill is to achieve both its primary objective of financial sustainability and take into account foreign policy, there is no alternative but to ban state-ownership of football clubs.”
Niall Couper, CEO, Fair Game
THURSDAY 9 MAY 2024, LONDON, UK - Fair Game, a group of professional football clubs campaigning to improve football governance, today called on the Government to rule out state-ownership of football clubs.
The call is one of six recommendations included in Fair Game’s comprehensive position paper on the Owners’ and Directors’ Test, a key part of the Football Governance Bill currently making its way through parliament. The research paper, entitled Football Governance Bill Owners’ and Directors’ Test, draws on opinions of Fair Game’s extensive network of academic and industry experts, and builds on best practice across a range of sectors and explains in detail how that should be applied to professional football.
The Bill, announced by the Government on 19 March, has the primary objective of securing the financial wellbeing of professional football clubs in the English football pyramid. However, Section 37(2) of the Bill states that the IFR “must” take into account the UK Government's trade and foreign policy objectives when making an assessment as to the fitness and propriety of an owner.
Niall Couper, CEO of Fair Game, explained:
“There is a need for clarity. On one hand the Bill explicitly champions financial sustainability, but then when it comes to who owns and runs our football clubs, which country the Government is happy to do deals with must be taken into account.
“It makes our whole national game open to the whims of politicians. If the Bill is to achieve both its primary objective of financial sustainability and take into account foreign policy, there is no alternative but to ban state-ownership of football clubs.”
Robbie Newton, senior coordinator at Human Rights Watch, added:
“The Government should be showing human rights abusers the red card, but instead, they risk doubling down on past mistakes. The Football Governance Bill could represent a watershed moment for English football, and also positively impact global sport, so it is critical the Government gets this right. State ownership of football clubs should never allow countries to ‘sportswash’ their human rights abuses nor risk undermining international human rights standards.
“The Government should seize this opportunity to stamp sportswashing out of the game by taking decisive action to repeal or amend Section 37(2) of the Bill.”
The nine-page document goes on to examine what the Independent Football Regulator should set out as clear expectations that all owners and significant shareholders should abide by its Code of Governance, ensuring that prospective owners should take this into account in their business plans.
In order to strengthen the Bill, Fair Game is proposing six changes to be made in order to strengthen the Owners’ and Directors’ Test:
Rule out state ownership - prohibit ownership of football clubs by nation-states, and remove Section 37(2) relating to the Government’s trade and foreign policy.
Address human rights - ensure that IFR is compliant with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.
Clarify the source of income - clarify that the practice of making a comprehensive review of an applicant’s business interest and sources of wealth.
Current vs new owners - make it clear that the requirements for financial sustainability should apply to current owners as well as prospective ones.
Ensure commitment to provide ongoing financial support - require all owners to provide a business plan for how the club will be run and how downside scenarios would be managed.
Transparency of ownership - full transparency on the ownership structure, without any ambiguity over who ultimately owns or controls the football club, alongside proof of sources of funds.
Niall Couper, Fair Game CEO, said:
“Football owners and directors should be pillars of our society and role models for their communities. We have seen far too many clubs go under due to poor management from unfit owners. Since the start of the Premier League, 64 clubs have gone into administration and currently 58% of clubs in the top four divisions are technically insolvent.
“We need to have full transparency and confidence that the right decisions are being made for the fans, communities and our National Game.”
Bart Huby, Head of Sport Analytics at LCP, added:
“LCP is delighted to support Fair Game in setting out their position on the Owners’ and Directors’ Test, in particular on the financial aspects. The Bill needs to ensure there are fit and proper people running football clubs, and the financial sustainability both of individual clubs and of the pyramid.
“Key issues for the Regulator when considering the business plans of owners should include, not just their willingness and ability to cover losses, but also whether there is an enforceable legal obligation for them to do so. This should cover any projected losses under the ongoing business plan, and also crucially allow for potential additional losses in realistic downside scenarios, like relegation.
“Without this, clubs will continue to be at risk of wealthy owners buying clubs and investing for success on the pitch. but then withdrawing financial support if and when that success fails to materialise – resulting in heartbreak for fans and local communities.”
Read the full research paper here.
The research was collated by experts in a range of regulatory frameworks, including input from Robbie Newton at Human Rights Watch; Bart Huby, John Parnis England, Jon Wolff, and Ashley Mould from Lane Clark & Peacock LLP (LCP), with expertise in football analytics and in policy and regulation in the pensions, health and energy industries; and Greg Campbell, founding partner at Campbell Tickell, a management consultancy that has worked with over 25 different regulators in the charity, health, housing, legal services, sports and utility sectors.
Their findings were then shared with Fair Game’s Advisory Council, which is made up of representatives from clubs from the Premier League to the non-league game, to ensure the proposals can work in practice and can deliver meaningful change.
