Karren Brady: English football is NOT broken – Government are searching for problems and could get us BANNED
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE football on TV reached for the stars last Wednesday.
Four English teams and one Scottish side featured on separate TNT screenings.
Moving between four sets might have caused some confusion, dizzy spells and a little irritation at missing goals, but so what? It was live viewing at its best.
All doubts about the complexity of the one division with 36 clubs were forgotten as the mind-provoking puzzle unravelled.
The end result was a wonderful evening of entertainment.
When I saw the first table I wondered if the compilers were bonkers.
It would work financially for clubs and players but would it for spectators and, particularly, for neutrals?
But it did for me. Channel juggling, I caught a number of spectacular goals and plenty of gaffes.
Celtic’s comeback at Villa Park was thrilling and Manchester City needed a serious Pep-talk at half-time. As for Liverpool… cor blimey.
And the overall result was a big win for European football and the Premier League.
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Which is why I am so concerned about the letter Uefa sent to the Secretary of State Lisa Nandy raising their concerns about the creation of an Independent Football Regulator, as usually football regulation is managed by the national federation — the Football Association.
One of Uefa’s fundamental requirements is that there should be no Government interference in the running of football.
The proposal is not just to regulate football through the Bill but to actually take it over.
From being able to define when a season is, to how money is distributed through the pyramid.
To set up rigid financial systems, introduce new license conditions under which clubs can operate, and introduce subjective ownership and directors tests.
Determine how revenues are allocated between and within divisions, whether parachute payments can exist and in what form, and what clubs can actually spend their money on.
Many fear this is largely a solution in search of a problem.
Not a single club has gone into administration in more than three years since a fan-led review.
League One spent more on transfers this month than the 20 LaLiga clubs, including Barcelona and Real Madrid.
The English pyramid is not broken or on the precipice in the slightest.
Which is why the Uefa statement is so alarming.
If the autonomy of sport and fairness of competition is broken would “the ultimate sanction be excluding Premier League teams and the England team from Uefa and competitions”.
Fans will ask questions when there is no point in watching the Champions League on TV any more as the Premier League clubs are not playing in it, having been kicked out for introducing a regulator which has broken Uefa rules.
But by then, of course, it will be too late.