EFL bid for Prem lifesaver
THE PREMIER League’s big spenders have been told to stop “pleading poverty” and find extra cash to help save the beautiful game.
Former Sports Minister Tracey Crouch’s fan-led review has proposed mega-rich top flight teams pay a 10 per cent levy on transfers to keep League One and Two clubs afloat and provide grassroots pitches and facilities.
The report reveals an extra £160m a year could have been raised from transfers – excluding deals with EFL clubs – in addition to existing solidarity payments.
Crouch said: “The transfer window postCovid when they didn’t have fans in at all was still one of the largest for many years and they can’t plead poverty, can they?
“I wouldn’t have recommended it if it hadn’t had all the other pieces of the jigsaw in place as well.
“You have to have proper regulation, supporter regulation and everything else to give Premier League clubs confidence their money is going into good business.
“Some of the reticence in the past has been that money has gone to bad EFL owners or badly run businesses.”
Crouch also proposed new, stricter ownership tests for potential takeovers which includes an “integrity” test to stop bad owners as well as regular financial checks to stop clubs going bust.
Fans’ groups have welcomed the report which recommends a new independent regulator and it is set to gain Government support when put in front of Ministers tomorrow.
As it stands the Premier League does already pay a four per cent levy which goes to player development, another five per cent to FIFA – and going up to nearly 20 per cent could leave clubs struggling to compete.
The Premier League added: “It is important to everyone that any reforms do not damage our game, its competitive balance or the levels of current investment.”