December 5 – Clubs from across the English football pyramid are “alarmed” by the lack of consultation on legislation which could “fundamentally affect the future” of the game, West Ham United vice-chairwoman Karren Brady has warned.
Brady says a lack of clarity from the Government on the much-debated ownership test is causing “significant uncertainty” for potential investors.
The so-called Football Governance Bill seeks to establish an independent regulator for the top five tiers of the men’s game designed to ensure the financial sustainability of clubs.
But Brady told the House of Lords: “We are creating legislation which will profoundly affect 160 quite unique institutions, from Premier League clubs through to the National League community clubs, but it is important for everyone to understand that the consultation with these affected businesses by the current Government has been remarkably limited, almost unbelievably so.
“Just seven Premier League clubs, I was one of them, was granted a brief half-hour meeting with the Secretary of State over the summer.
“And following this cursory engagement, significant decisions were made that could fundamentally affect the future of English football, most notably with the inclusion of parachute payments within the backstop mechanism.
“This is particularly concerning given that fundamental issues still remained unresolved, we still lack any clarity on Uefa’s position on state interference, for example, this clearly creates profound uncertainty for clubs competing in or aspiring to European competition, as well as our national teams.”
“We don’t know what the ownership test will look like, this causes significant uncertainty for potential investors as to whether they are able to own a club,” she added.
“I have spoken to many of my colleagues across all of the football pyramid, we are all alarmed about and puzzled by the lack of discussion on the Bill with ministers.”
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