Kemi Badenoch: Football regulator a waste of money - Conservative leader
2025-02-11
Category: sports

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch says the planned new football regulator will be "a waste of money".The Football Governance Bill, which will establish a first independent regulator for the professional men's game in England, was initially tabled under the former Tory government in March 2024.It failed to pass through Parliament before the Conservatives were ousted from power by Labour in the general election.The Football Governance Bill was then reintroduced by the new government in October and is currently making its way through the House of Lords before being debated by MPs in the Commons."I think a football regulator is going to be a waste of money," Badenoch, who has previously opposed the bill, told the Telegraph's Daily T podcast., external"When I speak to people in the industry, they don't think it's going to work. So why are we doing it?"Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy recently warned peers it is "not acceptable to use parliamentary procedures to try to block" the bill as it passes through the House of Lords.In response to Badenoch's comments, Labour's Nandy said on Tuesday, external:, external "The Tory U-turn on protecting football clubs from collapse is a complete betrayal of fans and communities up and down the country."We'll support football to thrive and put fans back at the heart of the game."Supporter groups and the English Football League are among those to have welcomed the bill, but the Premier League has expressed concern at the regulator having "unprecedented and untested powers to intervene in the distribution of [its] revenues".The Premier League also said it could have "a negative impact on competitiveness, clubs' investment in world-class talent and the aspiration that drives our global appeal and growth".Premier League leaders, who have said they want to avoid "unintended consequences", are talking to government with a view to persuading those responsible for the bill to make changes to the framework of the legislation.Badenoch said: "I'm opposed to it personally and the party is looking at how we can improve the bill because we don't have the numbers in the Commons or even in the Lords to stop it."These are things which ended up becoming cross-party consensus, but are they actually making things better?"People feel that a football regulator will help smaller clubs in towns and so on. That's why they're doing it."I understand the problem that they're trying to solve. I just don't think a football regulator will do it and I've always said so."