POWER STRUGGLE
NO.10 CRITICISES ‘BACKROOM DEALS’ ■ FA PREPARED TO BLOCK CHANGES SPURS ‘ELIGIBLE FOR £125M STADIUM REBATE’ PARRY: PROPOSALS NOT ABOUT TAKING CONTROL
THE government, Football Association and some Premier League clubs are opposed to Project Big Picture, with Downing Street yesterday condemning the plans as ‘backroom dealing’.
Liverpool and Manchester United are heavily involved in the proposals alongside EFL chairman Rick Parry and, if adopted, they would represent the biggest changes to English football in a generation.
While the overhaul promises an immediate £250million rescue package for EFL clubs starved of income by the coronavirus pandemic plus a fairer share of future revenue, the plans have been criticised for concentrating power among the league’s big six clubs – Liverpool, United, Manchester City, Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham. The prime minister’s official spokesman said: ‘It’s clear this proposal does not command support throughout the Premier League. It is exactly this type of backroom dealing that undermines trust in football governance.
‘In terms of support for
EFL clubs, we have been given assurances by both the Premier League and the EFL they have no intention to let any club go bust due to Covid and we know they have the means to prevent this from happening within their existing mechanisms.
‘We strongly urge the Premier League and EFL to continue to work constructively to come up with a deal that provides a comprehensive package of support for the whole football family.’
Under the proposals there are many indirect benefits to the big six – notably affording them the ability to charge fans outside the UK for access to eight games a season direct from their platforms, from which they would stand to make more money than smaller clubs, plus the freedom created by an 18-team top division to play more lucrative European matches and friendlies.
It has even been claimed clubs would be able to claim major subsidies for stadium improvements, something that could apply retrospectively. This means Spurs, for example, would be entitled to a £125m rebate on their new stadium.
Premier League clubs are due to hold a key meeting tomorrow, where the radical plans will be discussed.
The BBC reported West Ham were ‘very much against’ the proposals, despite being one of three other clubs afforded special status by the changes, and even two of the big six are said to be unsure. It is also believed the FA would use its ‘golden share’ in the top flight, giving it a key vote on major issues, to block such an overhaul.
Parry (left) rejected the suggestion plans to give greater voting rights to the nine longest-established Premier League teams, which include the division’s big six, amount to a power grab.
Asked whether bigger clubs were just in it for more money, he said: ‘No, they’re not, they’re giving a lot of money to us. Why would they be giving 25 per cent of TV revenues to [the EFL] if all they were trying to do was grab power? They care about the pyramid.’