FOOTBALL clubs refusing to give fans the final say over their team’s kit and badges will be refused a licence to operate under plans unveiled by Rishi Sunak.
The PM today launches his blueprint to clean up the beautiful game and block dodgy owners — three weeks after it was leaked to The Sun.
Dan Charity / The SunFootie clubs will be refused a licence if fans don’t have final say over kits under Rishi Sunak’s plans[/caption]
Sides will also be banned from joining a European “super league” through the creation of a legal club-funded regulator.
Southampton fan Mr Sunak has accepted the recommendations in Tory MP Tracey Crouch’s fan-led review.
Writing together in The Sun, they rail against unscrupulous owners prepared to “recklessly gamble away the future of their clubs in the hope of big money payouts”.
The regulator will have “powers of last resort” to raid Premier League cash to hand to struggling lower league teams if footballing chiefs cannot reach a deal themselves.
A staggering 64 clubs have gone bust since it launched in 1992, with Bury the latest to plunge into administration.
But economist Len Shackleton, author of the report Red Card, warned regulation would impose “disincentives to investment and innovation”.
He said: “Governments over the years have ruined many successful domestic industries.
“Interference in football could well have the same doleful effect.”
Southampton fan Mr Sunak has accepted the recommendations in Tory MP Tracey Crouch’s fan-led review Read More