‘Root-and-branch’ review of football to boost role of fans
A "root-and-branch" review into the way football is run will consider how to boost the role of fans, Boris Johnson has promised.
Plans under consideration also include an Ofcom-style regulator for the sport, ministers have indicated following the European Super League debacle.
Six of England's biggest clubs abandoned plans to join the breakaway competition on Tuesday night following a backlash from fans, the game's authorities and the Government.
Boris Johnson said it was "the right result" but the Government is now considering what reforms may be needed to the way the sport is run.
At Prime Minister's Questions yesterday, he said the proposals would have taken clubs from English towns and cities and turned them "just into global brands with no relation to the fans, to the communities that gave them life and that give them the most love and support". "That was, in my view, totally wrong, to say nothing of the lack of competition," he said. Former sports minister, Tracey Crouch, will carry out "a root-and-branch investigation into the governance of football and into what we can do to promote the role of fans in that governance", Johnson said. Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, an Arsenal season-ticket holder, said the European Super League "would have destroyed football".
The so-called Big Six all retreated from the European Super League proposals, with Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy saying the club "regret the anxiety and upset caused by the proposal" while Arsenal apologised for their "mistake" in signing up for the venture.
Liverpool's principal owner, John W Henry, said: "I want to apologise to all the fans and supporters of Liverpool Football Club for the disruption I caused over the last 48 hours." Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea also confirmed they were pulling out of the plan, which would also have involved major teams from Spain and Italy.
Culture Minister, Oliver Dowden, said the possibility of a new regulator will "not be off the table" in Ms Crouch's review. and said the review will also consider whether supporters should be able to take a stake in their clubs.