UK: "We're asking MPs and Peers to look at the Bill very carefully" (R. Masters, Premier League)

"We are taking a big risk with a very successful industry and so we're asking MPs and Peers to look at the Bill very carefully and to look at it with a dispassionate head on and make sure that all of football benefits from it, and we don't bump into unintended consequences," said Richard Masters, chief executive of the Premier League, to members of both Houses of the UK Parliament on 23/04/2024.

Richard Masters spoke alongside Mark Ives, general manager of the National League, and Stephen Thompson, CEO of Dagenham & Redbridge FC (fifth division), as the House of Commons debated for the first time the "Football Governance Bill", a bill initiated by Rishi Sunak's (Conservative Party) government which aims to "reform the governance of men's elite football in England and put fans back at the heart of the game."

The bill provides for:
• The creation of an "independent football regulator" that will "give fans a greater voice in the running of their clubs"
• The regulator "will promote financial sustainability and will have the ability to fine clubs up to 10% of turnover for non-compliance…