English football clubs will not face sporting sanctions from independent regulator

The regulator for English football will now not recommend sporting sanctions for clubs – ruling out points deductions for breaching regulations on finances and respecting the desires of fans, the government has outlined.

Sky News has compared the plans in an updated framework and model for the football regulator with the white paper published in February, that had called for sanctions to ensure “non-compliance is met with genuine consequences”.

The government is backing away from removing the licence of a club to compete in a competition – unless they try to join a breakaway competition such as another Super League rebellion.

Following a consultation across football, including clubs, authorities and fans, the government says the regulator “would be unlikely to enforce financial sanctions that could risk further destabilising a financially vulnerable club”.

It does mark progress towards the football regulator being created rather an attempt to kill off the plan from within the game.

The white paper envisaged that “the regulator would have the ability to recommend that leagues or the FA apply sporting sanctions, and would supply any evidence it has to assist in their investigation”.

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But Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer now says the government wants to ensure they “do not place unnecessary burdens on the game”.

The new government document says: “To be clear, the regulator would not insist that the leagues take any action but could simply share information where it believes it could be useful for the leagues in monitoring and enforcing their own publicly available rules.”

The regulator system is set to force clubs to prove their business models are financially sound and that they have good corporate governance before being allowed to compete.

Clubs will also be required to seek regulatory approval for any sale or change of stadium, and fans will be given a greater say in stopping owners changing club names, badges and home shirt colours.

“The regulator will not be regulating matters relating to sporting integrity or competition,” the government says.

“This means it will not be able to apply sporting sanctions which directly affect sporting outcomes.

“The government believes that these sanctions are best left to the existing football authorities to enforce their own respective rules in relation to sporting competition and integrity.”

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The regulator is intended to be independent of existing bodies like the Football Association and Premier League.

But to avoid duplication and overlap, the government says “the regulator may choose to delegate some of its functions and responsibilities where it has confidence in the industry’s ability to deliver”.

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