Latest news with #footballgovernance
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
EY partner in talks to become boss of new football regulator
An expert in financial regulation at one of the big four accountancy firms is in talks to become the inaugural boss of English football's powerful new watchdog. Sky News has learnt that Richard Monks, a partner at EY, is the leading contender to become chief executive of the Independent Football Regulator (IFR). The new body will be formally established once the Football Governance Bill receives Royal Assent, which is expected this month. Mr Monks spent 18 years at the Financial Conduct Authority and its predecessor regulator, the Financial Services Authority, before becoming chair of the G20/OECD Taskforce for Consumer Financial Protection, according to his LinkedIn profile. He became a partner at EY, where he focuses on financial regulation, in the autumn of 2022. The prospective choice of a chief executive of the IFR with no professional experience of the football industry may spark alarm among club executives who will face an onerous new regulatory regime overseen by the IFR. In recent weeks, football industry executives have circulated rumours that the IFR boss was likely to emerge from the professional services sector. It was unclear this weekend whether other candidates were vying with Mr Monks for the post. The IFR has already been set up on a 'shadow' basis, with Martyn Henderson, former chief executive of the Sports Grounds Safety Authority, appointed in December 2023 as interim chief operating officer of the football watchdog. The EY partner is understood to have held talks with David Kogan, the government's preferred choice for the watchdog's chairmanship but whose formal appointment has been delayed by an investigation sparked by his previous donations to Labour politicians. William Shawcross, the commissioner for public appointments, is investigating the process through which Mr Kogan was recruited to the role, and is thought likely to produce his report in the coming weeks. Lisa Nandy, the culture secretary, told MPs last month that she was delegating the final decision on Mr Kogan's appointment to the sports minister. Stuart Andrew, the shadow culture minister, said at the time: "The public has a right to know whether this was a fair and impartial process, or yet another case of political patronage disguised as due diligence. "The decision to launch an inquiry is welcome [and] must include scrutiny of [Sir] Keir Starmer, his advisers, and whether any conflicts of interest were properly declared." If Mr Kogan's appointment is ratified, the appointment of a chief executive would be a crucial step in paving the way for the most radical reforms to the supervision of English football in decades. The legislation includes a new licensing regime for clubs, measures to ensure greater fan engagement and a backstop power allowing the IFR to impose a financial settlement on the Premier League in relation to distributions to English Football League clubs. Revisions to the Bill have seen a requirement for the IFR to take decisions about club takeovers in the context of the government's foreign and trade policy removed. If Mr Monks does land the IFR chief executive's post, ministers are likely to argue that his expertise as a regulator will balance Mr Kogan's decades of experience as a negotiator of sports media rights deals. Last year, Mr Kogan acted as the lead negotiator for the Women's Super League and Championship on their latest five-year broadcasting deals with Sky - the immediate parent company of Sky News - and the BBC. His current roles include advising the chief executives of CNN, the American broadcast news network, and The New York Times Company on talks with digital platforms about the growing influence of artificial intelligence on their industries. The creation of the IFR was pledged by the last Conservative government in the wake of the furore over the failed European Super League project in 2021. Its establishment comes with the top tier of the professional game gripped by civil war, with Abu Dhabi-owned Manchester City at the centre of a number of legal cases with the Premier League over the club's financial affairs. The Premier League has also been keen to agree a long-delayed financial redistribution deal with the EFL before the regulator is formally launched. Tentative talks between representatives of both factions failed to produce meaningful progress, however. This weekend, EY declined to comment on Mr Monks's behalf, while the Department for Culture, Media and Sport has been approached for comment.
BBC News
11-06-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Call for football supporters' trusts to be recognised by law
A football supporters' trust leading a drive for fans to "play a meaningful part in decision making at their clubs" has been backed by a national campaign Game has joined a coalition of 22 fan groups, led by Northampton Town Supporters Trust who are calling on the government to ensure "the unique status of trusts to be recognised and enshrined in law" as part of its Trusts First Couper, CEO of Fair Game, said the campaign was "about giving those communities a real voice in the game they love"The Department of Culture, Media and Sport has been approached for comment. The coalition of clubs, from all levels of the English game, intends to lobby government to "guarantee primacy for Trusts and other democratically-constituted supporter groups" in the forthcoming Football Governance legislation, which is passing through parliament after being reintroduced by the Labour government in October, will hand power to a body independent from government and football authorities to oversee clubs in England's top five Trusts First group includes supporters' trusts from Barnsley, Birmingham City, Blackburn Rovers, Bradford City, Doncaster Rovers, Exeter City, Fulham, Leicester City, Leyton Orient, Manchester United, Morecambe, Northampton Town, Plymouth Argyle, Reading, Scunthorpe United, Southend United, Swansea City, Swindon Town, Torquay United and Wolverhampton Wanderers. Mr Couper said: "It's time to ensure that meaningful fan engagement isn't just a slogan, but a reality."Andy Roberts, the chair of the Northampton Town Supporters' Trust, said: "The trust movement was founded in 1992, the year the Premier League was introduced, yet many fans up and down the country continue to be disenfranchised and marginalised by club owners pursuing their own vested interests."We now have a clear opportunity to get all mandated supporter groups front and centre of fan engagement, not just those who are cherry picked by clubs to sit on their panels and boards."We feel this should form part of the legislation and not be left to the discretion of the Independent Football Regulator."Fair Game said a meeting will be held with democratically-elected supporter groups next week to hear their concerns for the future of football first hand. Follow Northamptonshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
