Football: Controversial Clause in Independent Regulator Bill Dropped
By Prof Dr Ian Blackshaw
The original clause in the Football Governance Bill (draft Legislation), which has been introduced into the UK Parliament, requiring the Regulator to take into account the “foreign and trade policy objectives” of the UK, when considering club takeovers, has been dropped.
This follows a warning from the Governing Body of European Football, UEFA, that such considerations could amount to Government interference in the sport and could lead to the exclusion of English clubs from the European Championship. Such interference is prohibited under the UEFA Statutes.
See the earlier Post of “UEFA and the Football Regulator” on the website.
Thus, the regulation of football will now be fully independent of the UK Government, which means that it will not be involved in decisions about how football clubs are run.
It will be interesting to see the final version of the Bill, when it is passed into law, and, equally important, who gets the job of the independent football regulator.
Any offers?
Prof Dr Ian Blackshaw may be contacted by e-mail at ‘
