UEFA warns England could face Euros ban over Sir Keir Starmer’s plans for football regulator

With the next Euros due to be hosted by the UK and Ireland, a letter to the culture secretary from European football’s governing body says there should be “no government interference in the running of football”.

Sunday 15 September 2024

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England risks being banned from the Euros if Sir Keir Starmer goes ahead with plans for a men’s football watchdog, UEFA has warned.

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In a letter to Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy, European football’s governing body said there should be “no government interference in the running of football”.

It follows plans by the government to set up an Independent Football Regulator (IFR) for the professional men’s game

In the letter, seen by The Times and the BBC, UEFA’s general secretary Theodore Theodoridis warned against plans outlined in the King’s Speech that would give the new regulator the power to oversee clubs in England’s top five leagues.

He said the game’s independence was a “fundamental requirement”.

An exclusion would prevent English clubs from being able to compete in the Champions League and other UEFA competitions, as well as the national team being able to take part in the European Championship.

But the Department for Culture, Media and Sport believes the independent football regulator would not jeopardise England’s participation at Euro 2028, which is being hosted by the UK and Ireland.

A DCMS spokesperson told the PA news agency: “The Football Governance Bill will establish a new Independent Football Regulator that will put fans back at the heart of the game, and tackle fundamental governance problems to ensure that English football is sustainable for the benefit of the clubs’ communities going forward.”

PA said it understands the DCMS would respond to the letter shortly and there have been no previous concerns raised by UEFA which, along with the Football Association, has been engaging with the government over the development of the bill.

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Former FA chairman David Bernstein said this is “quite expected” from UEFA and a “desperate” move “by people who would like to stop what is a very progressive idea”.

“Government interference of various forms is nothing new, but this is now being raised as some sort of bogeyman to try and scare us away from this very important reform,” he said.

“I spoke, to parliamentarians last week about this and emphasised that if anything, I think this potential bill that coming forward needs to be strengthened. I thought the previous bill on the Conservative Party was not strong enough in this area of finance, because finance is absolutely key.”

The previous Conservative government failed to get its Football Governance Bill through Parliament because Rishi Sunak called a general election in May, but the plan was also in Labour’s manifesto.

Campaign group Fair Game, which has called for an overhaul in football governance, dismissed UEFA’s letter.

Fair Game chief executive Niall Couper said: “The DCMS have been over this ground a hundred times. This is nothing short of a scare story.

“With 58% of the top 92 [clubs in England] technically insolvent, annual losses of £10m a year in the Championship viewed as ‘a success’, football is an industry in desperate need of financial reform.

“The government should not be derailed by such nonsense.”