Regulator legislation divides English football

The regulator will have a raft of powers to ensure clubs are sustainably run and include the ability to block teams from joining breakaway competitions such as the European Super League. Premier League clubs, who benefit from the most lucrative television rights deals in the sport, have been at loggerheads with the English Football League (EFL) over a new funding deal for the pyramid.

A deal worth around £900 million over six years for the lower leagues, and tied to future TV revenues, has been held up for months due to disagreements between Premier League clubs. Top-flight teams were warned by the government last month that failure to reach a funding deal would mean one being imposed on them.

Among the regulator's powers is the option to intervene and ensure a settlement is agreed by studying proposals from both sides and imposing one as a binding arrangement. West Ham chairman David Sullivan expressed the fears among Premier League clubs that their privileged position in world football could be hampered by the regulator.

"The Premier League is the top league in the world," Sullivan told the 'BBC'. "It is a big export - other countries want to buy it off us and we do very well in Europe generally. Anything to water down our income will make us less competitive. We may cease to be the top league so they may ruin an asset that we have."

However, those claims were dismissed by EFL chairman Rick Parry. "The gap is just getting bigger and bigger between the Premier League and the rest (of Europe), so the idea that the Premier League is going to be unduly constrained or no longer competitive, I just don't even see how that argument gets to first base," said Parry.

The government committed to bringing in a regulator following