Fair Game welcomes an ‘historic moment’ with the arrival of The White Paper
“Fans want an independent regulator, politicians want it, communities want it. The question now is to ensure that it is fit for purpose”
Niall Couper, Fair Game CEO
FAIR GAME welcomed Government proposals to reform football as part of the White Paper set to be announced in Parliament later today (Thursday 23 February) .
Niall Couper, CEO of Fair Game, said: “This is a historic moment. At last we have a roadmap to a brighter future.
“Football is broken - the European Super League, reckless overspending, fans being ignored, and a financial flow that is flawed. We need culture change.
“Football should no longer rest in the hands of a few billionaires with vested interests. We need a fairer future for football.
“Football is in crisis and the White Paper could change football for the better forever.
“But we’re deep in time added on for the introduction of the regulator. Every minute that passes clubs move closer to the abyss.
“So it is great to see the steps finally in place to make that regulator a reality. Fans want it, politicians want it, communities want it.
“The question now is to ensure that any new regulator is fit for purpose and has real teeth to make a difference.
“The Government and MPs must move quickly to introduce a Bill and support it through the Parliamentary process.”
Football’s financial statistics are bleak:
In 2020, before the pandemic, 53% of football clubs in the top four divisions were technically insolvent.
Since the turn of the century over a third of clubs have gone into administration.
Last season, a majority of football clubs in the Championship spent more on players’ wages than they earned in revenue.
A club getting relegated from the Premier League gets more in parachute payments than the league gives to all the clubs in League One, League Two, the National League, the National League South, the National League North and the top two tiers of the women’s game put together. One club getting more than 140 other clubs.
For the regulator to have the best chance of tackling the culture of financial risk taking and poor governance in football it needs to have teeth. Fair Game believes you do this through providing the regulator with the power to adjudicate the financial redistribution fairly throughout the pyramid and to distribute money to better run clubs through the Sustainability Index.
The Sustainability Index uses nationally recognised metrics and publicly available data to rate clubs on the following criteria: financially sustainability, good governance, fan engagement and equality standards.
Couper added: “Give control to an independent regulator and crucially hand the reigns of football’s financial flow to them. Reward the hard-working community clubs, not the reckless gamblers who overspend and play Russian roulette with their club’s very existence.
“Changing the culture of football through legislation means no more nonsense like the European Super League and no more tragedies like Bury and Macclesfield.
“It is a once in a lifetime opportunity to deliver a fairer future for football. We have the regulator, now let's add the means and the mechanism to change football for the better, forever.”
