by Svlad Cjelli »
08 Dec 2010 13:37
Once were Biscuitmen This will result in a report that will get a few headlines and then become shelfware like the rest of them.
Is the government going to:
Nationalise every major football club and then sell them to fans who could not afford to run them? No.
Revise the current revenue sharing deal in the Sky contract by legislating to over-turn a commercial contract? No.
Directly mandate the FA to change its governance rules or appoint a new set of senior officials and thus get England kicked out of FIFA? No.
Football clubs are not vital to the economy like banks and can be allowed to fail. The responsible clubs will survive and the other will be forced to learn lessons or cease to exist.
What the government could do is to instruct HMRC to begin proceedings against clubs behind on tax payments far earlier when there would be a greater prospect of recouping funds before the, “football creditors” mount up.
Oh, well, as it' all decided we might as well not bother, then. What a pity the suffragettes or the chartists didn't think of that - it would have saved them a whole lot of hassle .....
What is likely to come out of this are regulations on the internal structure of the FA, making it much more open and accountable, as well as independent of the likes of the PL. There is a recognition in government that the interests of the PL and a few clubs are being put before the interests of the rest of the game down to grass roots level.
Also likely to come out of this are rules about club ownership, making it a lot easier for supporters to won their clubs - or at least for them to participate much more in their clubs - without this taking away competitive advantage.
Still, if it's not worth the trouble it we might as well not bother.