Group calls for ban on state-owned clubs in Football Governance Bill amid Newcastle concerns

Reform group Fair Game has called for a clause in the new Football Governance Bill to be scrapped over fears it could allow states to buy English clubs.

The clause says the regulator should «have regard to the foreign and trade policy objectives» of the Government when making decisions on who can own and run clubs. But Fair Game argues this goes against the regulator's core mission of making clubs sustainable.

The group's analysis of the Bill says that, if such a clause is kept in, «the Bill must also explicitly rule out state-ownership of football clubs, which would instantly become vulnerable to the whims of the Government of the day». It added: «The alternative would be to remove the clause entirely.»

The clause appears on the face of it to give a stronger chance of success to a proposed buyout linked to a country which the UK has positive diplomatic and trade relations with, and when determining whether existing club owners linked to such a country are suitable to hold that position.

Fair Game's concern, though, is understood to centre more on the impact on a club's sustainability if relations between the UK and a state owning an English club take a dramatic turn for the worse. The group has pointed out the financial troubles Chelsea, while not state-owned, faced when their former owner Roman Abramovich was sanctioned over his ties to the Russian state in March 2022, during Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Some people have wondered if a truly independent regulator should have to think about Government goals when deciding if someone is fit to run a football club. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) didn't say anything about the clause, but sources told the Press Association news agency it was meant to