Palace, Villa oppose UK government regulator plan

 

MANCHESTER - Premier League clubs Aston Villa and Crystal Palace have warned that the UK government's plans to regulate the game risk damaging the success of the English league.

Lawmaker Tracey Crouch published a report on Wednesday which called for parliament to back the creation of a new regulatory body and made a series of recommendations including a 'transfer tax' to be paid to lower league clubs. read more

Crouch's panel spoke to fan groups and others in the game at various levels and backed the creation of a regulatory body to deal with the game's finances, club ownership and corporate governance.

The move would weaken the powers of the Premier League and other leagues and the Football Association to govern the game.

"Unfortunately, I think these solutions are in grave danger of huge, unintended consequences that could make the game a lot worse in the long run," Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish told BBC radio.

"We are the envy of the world, make no mistake. We emerged from the COVID crisis, the English game, as the most healthy game in the world, without a doubt. Everybody looks on us... across Europe particularly, somewhat comedically, thinking we are about to create a huge act of self harm," he added.

Among the recommendations in the report are a 'golden share' for club fans, giving them a veto over certain issues, and the creation of 'shadow boards' made up of supporters.

"I fear for the government somewhat. All football fans tend to want different things," said Parish.

"There are a lot of sledgehammers to crack nuts in this report."

The cover of Crouch's report features a picture of Gigg Lane, home of North West club Bury who in 2019 were expelled from the Football League and went into administration.

But Parish said the fate of that club was very unusual.

"(In) 120 years, a tiny handful of businesses have gone into liquidation and I'm confident there will be another Bury Football Club, something that rises from the ashes. Other than that, there are a lot of things (in the report) that will make football worse, more difficult to run and far less attractive to investors."

Aston Villa CEO Christian Purslow was also critical of the proposal.

 “The Premier League has always really been the source of funding for the rest of football and the danger here is of course, of killing the golden goose if we overregulate a highly successful financial and commercial operation.”