Dear Nikki,
Thank you for
your recent letter, following contact from a number of your constituents, who
are concerned about football club ownership.
I am
pleased with the responses I have received from members of the House, the
media, and
the wider public at large about the Government’s response to the Culture, Media
and Sport Select Committee football governance inquiry. We have set out a
number of key challenges for the football authorities, including around
increasing supporter representation and ownership at football clubs. In our response
to the Select Committee report into
football governance, we recommended significant
reform of the FA’s Board and
Council;
the introduction of a club licensing system where financial sustainability and
robust
checks on club owners and directors are included, and for greater supporter
representation
at football clubs. I can assure you that the Secretary of State and I
are
committed to seeing this through.
Together,
we continue to meet with the football authorities to hear what progress
they are
making. It is our belief that it is for the football authorities to determine
the
best way of
achieving the right changes, but Government will be a key partner in
those
discussions. The football authorities have recently submitted their proposals
to
make these
improvements and the Government will be responding in due course.
The
Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee will also review progress, after
which
the
Government will decide on a way forward.
Thank you, again, for writing, with all my very best wishes.
HUGH ROBERTSON MP
Minister for Sport and the Olympics
I shall be replying to this letter shortly and I will post my letter online.
