The Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) has welcomed proposed changes to the Football Governance Bill which will see a new Independent Football Regulator (IFR) directed to co-operate and engage with players.
Previous versions of the Bill did not mention players, but after representations from the PFA and the Trades Union Congress (TUC) government has now introduced a new amendment to the Bill which will see the Regulator directed to “co-operate, and proactively and constructively engage with those who may be affected by its decisions”, including players, as part of its regulatory principles.
PFA CEO Maheta Molango has welcomed the change:
“The work of the new Regulator has the potential to have a real impact on the lives and careers of our members. As with any industry, employees need to have a voice.
“We also believe that engagement with players will make for better regulation. Our members often understand more than anyone the realities of how football works on a day-to-day basis.
“We’ve appreciated the constructive way in which ministers and officials have worked with us on this. It will be an important change that makes for a better Bill.”
Molango also set out his thoughts on the role of the incoming Independent Regulator:
“Football definitely has serious challenges, but it is not ‘broken’.
“The depth, history and importance of the football pyramid is unique to the English game, and that must be protected. However, it remains, as it always has been, incredibly resilient.
“The Premier League is a global success story. I know from my own experiences in the game that it is something that other footballing nations look at with envy. The continued success of the Premier League is vital for the whole of the pyramid, and it is important that a new regulatory regime does not act as a barrier to that.
“We have always believed that the new Independent Football Regulator should take a light touch approach, with intervention seen as a last resort. We want to see the Regulator have, and maintain, a clear and tightly focused remit, and to work effectively alongside the mechanisms and structures that already exist.
“By the same principle, at domestic and international levels football also needs to help itself. Football is one game, but it is a business of individual organisations who too often allow themselves to be seen as acting only in their own interests.
“At all levels, football does best when those involved in the running of the game work together. It needs to demonstrate that it remains capable of doing that.”
