The Premier League seems likely to face renewed pressure on governance issues from the Government once a report from the House of Commons Select Committee on Culture, Media and Sport is published. This could happen as early as Friday.
The Premier League seems likely to face renewed pressure on governance issues from the Government once a report from the House of Commons Select Committee on Culture, Media and Sport is published. This could happen as early as Friday.
The Football Association, under sustained pressure from the Blair Government, appointed an independent chairman in 2007. Now the Coalition Government would like to see the same thing happening with the Premier League as one of a number of measures to deal with what they see as football’s lack of transparency. Also on the agenda is expected to be a club licensing system and reform of the FA Council.
Sources close to the Premier League have complained that there is a Government vendetta against Sir Dave Richards, the Premier League chairman. The former chairman of Sheffield Wednesday also holds a seat on the FA board. When he gave evidence to MPs, he denied that his various roles constituted a conflict of interest. However, some witnesses, including Lord Triesman the former FA Chairman, complained about the undue influence of the Premier League on the FA.
Signs of tension betwen the Premier League and both government and MPs is evident in the league’s annual review published this week in which Richard Scudamore takes issue with the tone taken by the Select Committee. He complains that the inquiry ‘provided an overall backdrop of negativity.’