The UK chief politician for sports, media and culture remains adamant that the government is committed to supporting the country’s sporting network, both financially and legally, but concerns remain about the sector’s future.
“Football is one of our greatest exports and a source of joy to people across the country, but for too long robust protections have not been in place,” Lisa Nandy, the Secretary of State at the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), told MPs this morning.
To remedy the many challenges facing the UK’s most popular sport, the government is banking on the Football Governance Bill, a resurrection of a bill of the same name first proposed by Labour’s Conservative predecessors.
As with many other parliamentary debates and questions sessions, this morning’s Q&A between an assortment of cross-party MPs and the ministers of the DCMS, headed by Nandy, featured more style and buzzwords over substance.
“We’re looking forward to introducing the football bill without any further delay,” Nandy told legislators, adding only that the government aims to “introduce the strongest possible protections to put fans back at the heart of the game where they belong”.
In all fairness to Nandy, Labour’s incarnation of the Football Governance Bill has not yet been introduced to parliament, having only been announced in the King’s Speech to parliament three months ago.
With inflation and economic growth, as always, front and centre for the government, football regulation is unlikely to be its top priority, and it is unclear when the Bill will first appear before MPs in the House of Commons.
For football fans, and apparently for some of their local MPs according to today’s session, finance remains a key area of concern. Poor decisions by ownership, or lack of decisions by ownership, often see club business people face the ire of fans on social media, on fan forums and in chants in terraces and pubs.
“My constituency of Earley and Woodley is the proud home of Reading Football Club who managed to stay up last season against the odds but has been a victim of financial mismanagement by absent owners,” said Yuan Yang MP of the Labour Party, echoing some fan sentiments.
“We desperately need the government’s football regulation football governance bill, which will set up regulated safeguard clubs like Reading and prevent future abuses.”
Regardless of when the Bill is launched, Nandy is adamant that the government will eventually get around to it. Securing fan representation on football club boards, regulating the sport to ensure good governance and protecting finances, seem to be the main objectives of the Bill.
Betting on the future of British sport
Fans and MPs are not the only ones concerned about football regulation, however. Some stakeholders and observers are concerned about unintended consequences of regulation, something that was not addressed by DCMS today.
Last month, BBC Sport revealed that it had seen a letter written to Nandy by UEFA, in which the European football governing body warned that over-regulation of English football could result in the national team and domestic clubs being excluded from continental competitions.
These concerns were not echoed by MPs during today’s Q&A, and were given no mention by Nandy. A separate package of regulatory changes and proposals was the subject of a lot of discussion, however – relating to gambling.
Britain is currently in the process of re-regulating its gambling industry, with the Labour government allowing the work of its Conservative predecessors to run its course. The review of the 2005 Gambling Act is still in effect, and given the extensive links between bookmakers and sports, it will have consequences for the country’s sports sector.
“This government is committed to strengthening the protections to ensure that people can continue to enjoy gambling as a pastime without the harms that can ensue from problem gambling,” Nandy remarked, telling MPs that the government will seek as wide a range of views as possible.
Aside from the Gambling Act review, a recent stir in British gambling has related to taxes. Media reports this week suggested that Rachel Reeves, Chancellor of the Exchequer, may announce an increase in gambling taxes in the Autumn Budget on 30 October. This could in turn impact the extent to which the industry provides funding for sport.
However, Nandy – who repeated throughout today’s questions that she cannot comment too much on funding ahead of the budget – told one MP that he “shouldn’t believe everything he reads in the papers”. This sentiment has been echoed by prominent gaming industry figures.
“Until the budget is announced, it’s all conjecture,” said Gavin Issacs, CEO of LSE gambling firm Entain, parent company of the Coral and Ladbrokes betting brands, both of which maintain extensive sponsorship links to sports like racing and football.
“We continue to highlight to the treasury that a putative tax increase would have a materially, detrimental impact on the economic contribution of wider industry, putting at risk thousands of jobs, funding for sports and racing, as well as benefiting the black market.”
Sports’ concerns about the impact of betting regulations date back further than the recent reports of tax hikes, however, going back as far as the start of the Gambling Act review in late 2020.
Horse racing in particular has surrounding worries about the impact review-manded affordability checks could have on betting firms’ finances, and in turn the payments these companies make to the sport via the annual horse racing betting levy.
Nandy informed MPs that “this is an industry that is worth £4bn to the UK economy, so it is certainly something that this government takes incredibly seriously”. Horse racing, like football, will have to wait for more details to emerge, however, as the Secretary reminded stakeholders of a debate at Westminster Hall next week.
