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Football regulator gives it large to Premier League

The chair of England’s new football regulator has told Premier League clubs to view money passed down to lower divisions as an “investment” in the game, as he urged the sport’s bosses to strike an agreement on how cash is redistributed. In a stern warning to the Premier League, David Kogan, who chairs the Independent Football Regulator, said that clubs “enjoying the good times at the top must surely see that any money passed down through the leagues is an investment”. “My message today is that it can’t just be about the clubs at the top. It has to be about ensuring the whole pyramid can survive,” Kogan told the FT’s Business of Football Summit on Thursday.  

He cautioned that the lack of a new deal on how money was redistributed from the top flight “creates uncertainty that is detrimental to the pyramid and to growth and investment in the English game”. Talks between the Premier League and the English Football League — encompassing the Championship, League One and League Two — go back years, preceding the creation of the football regulator last year, but they have been unable to come to an agreement. 

Kogan said English football “needs to come together now” to end the financial uncertainty. Kogan said the issue remained a matter for discussion between the Premier League, EFL and the National League, the next tier of clubs, but stressed that the regulator had the power to step in. “I hope this message opens up the process again . . . The clock is now ticking . . . and the opportunity is there,” Kogan said. 

Kogan’s appointment as chair of the new football regulator last year was overshadowed by controversy over his previous donations to the Labour Party. Sir Keir Starmer admitted in November that he had approved the appointment despite promising to recuse himself from the governance of the sport. Kogan has stressed his independence.

In a stark warning about the health of the game, Kogan said that clubs were overly reliant on funding from rich owners and that rising player wages had added to the costs. “Multiple clubs have told us they would not be able to survive a month if their owners pulled funding,” he said. “We know players’ wages have been rocketing in the Premier League but it’s also happening across the whole of the pyramid.” Relegation is a near-death sentence for many. Clubs facing relegation could see their revenues cut by as much as 80 per cent if they fail to bounce back quickly, he added. “Without better financial mitigations, this is simply unsustainable.”
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