Government Accused Of Dragging Heels On Football Regulator With Deal Up In The Air

Conservative MPs and football campaigners are becoming increasingly frustrated with what they describe as the Government’s “weak” position on the football regulator, as a future Football Governance Bill is yet to enter the Commons.

Pressure has been mounting for the Premier League and the English Football League (EFL) to agree a financial deal between themselves. Elite clubs met for two hours on 29 February and have agreed to reconvene on 11 March.

It has not been announced whether Premier League clubs will vote on a new financial package which will redistribute funds to other EFL clubs, BBC Sport reported. 

Government cannot force all 20 Premier League clubs to agree a financial settlement. However it has said if they cannot come to an agreement a new regulator will step in and impose a deal on all clubs. 

One senior Tory MP told PoliticsHome they were assured a Football Governance Bill was coming to the Commons soon and the regulator would have strong “backstop powers”, which would give a future regulator the teeth to implement a financial deal if one was not already agreed by Premier League clubs. 

They said there was frustration and concern among many MPs on the backbenches over the fact that the Bill had not been brought forward. However they claimed much of the criticism directed towards the Government and Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer, who is in charge of bringing a future Football Governance Bill forward, was “unfair”.

One sector source close to the meetings claimed the Government could give the regulator the “necessary powers” to redistribute money across the football pryamid, then stand back and let the process take its course. “Frazer’s insistence on getting a deal done first is unnecessary and making her look