British football needs to be reformed following the 'Super League' debacle
We need root and branch reform to reset football and to make sure this never ever happens again.
The Bow Group issued a statement this week on the European Super League and the future of British football. The group’s Chairman, Ben Harris-Quinney, featured in Bournbrook’s latest print issue, available for those who subscribe here.
Football isn’t a business, it is a sport. Clubs are foundations of members, not plutocrats, forever tied to our towns and cities, and to our country. It is a fundamental part of our identity both with club teams and national teams.
The European Super League debacle is the straw that broke the camel's back, but foreign money has been ruining football for decades.
We need root and branch reform to reset football and to make sure this never ever happens again.
For too long the Conservative Party has eluded to the notion that greed is good, but greed is not good, greed destroys. This is an important opportunity for the Government to underline that.
The Prime Minister was right to make a very strong statement on the European Super League, but he has suggested that if the clubs pull out of it (as they now have) the Government will take no further action. That is the wrong approach.
The Premier League may be a great commercial success, but the events of this month have shown that executives have come to see football as only commerce.
Is it right that for several decades now most of our top teams have been largely made up of executives, managers, and players that have no connection to the cities and countries they play in? It is not to deny the great contributions so many from all over the world have made, but to call for a rebalancing to tie clubs back to their communities.
It has been a tragic month for football, but it is also an opportunity to recognise how badly things have gone wrong, to enact radical reforms, and to get back to the foundations of the English game that began in this country, but captured the imagination of the world.
The Bow Group therefore calls on the Government to use this opportunity and the freedom Brexit has granted to enact legislation, work with the Football Associations, the Premier League, and the football leagues to give our game back to the fans, and boot out foreign investors that have made the game rich, but the fans and our communities poor.
The Bow Group has made the following recommendations:
~ A ban on foreign ownership of any UK football club.
~ A ban on any non-British citizen having a board level executive role at any UK football club.
~ Private ownership of football clubs mandated to no more than forty-nine per cent / fan ownership placed at a minimum of 51 per cent.
~ A post-Brexit policy review to depart from prior EU rules governing football, and Visa regulations to increase the minimum number of British players that each football club is required to have as part of their squad.
~ The withdrawal of work and residence Visas of foreign football owners and executives, allied to immigration reform.
~ A review of broadcasting law to ensure that football remains affordable to view.
~ The setting up of an independent government regulator to oversee the above regulations, functioning from within the Department for Culture Media and Sport, and reporting to Parliament. The regulator must have the power to enact heavy fines and penalties for abusers.
