Wed 8th Dec 2010 | Football Governance
The Culture, Media and Sport Committee is today launching a new inquiry into
the governance of professional football clubs responding not only to the
high-profile coverage of Liverpool and Manchester United, but also to
broader concerns that current and future generations of football supporters
of clubs across the country are ill-served by current football club
regulations.
The coalition agreement includes an undertaking to encourage the reform of
football governance rules to support the co-operative ownership of football
clubs by supporters, and our inquiry will consider the case for strategic
Government intervention in the administration of professional football
clubs. In so doing it will look at the scope for enhancing supporter
involvement in decision-making processes and consider whether current
regulatory processes - including fit and proper persons tests - are
adequate.
Questions the Committee will consider include:
Should football clubs in the UK be treated differently from other commercial
organisations?
Are football governance rules in England and Wales, and the governing bodies
which set and apply them, fit for purpose?
Is there too much debt in the professional game?
What are the pros and cons of the Supporter Trust share-holding model?
Is Government intervention justified and, if so, what form should it take?
Are there lessons to be learned from football governance models across the
UK and abroad, and from governance models in other sports?
Committee Chair Mr John Whittingdale said:
"The Government has said that it will encourage the reform of football
governance rules to support the co-operative ownership of football clubs by
supporters, and there is widespread concern that the current governance
arrangements are not fit-for-purpose. Our inquiry will look at the case for
strategic Government intervention and improved self-regulation and will
consider models which involve supporters more in how clubs are run. We are
keen to hear from a wide range of interested parties, including fans, as
well as the clubs themselves and their own regulatory bodies."
The Committee is inviting written submission on the above and other matters
relevant to the inquiry. A copy of the submission should be sent by e-mail
to [email protected] and have 'Football Governance' in the subject line.
Submissions should be received by Wednesday 26 January 2011.
Guidance on submitting written evidence
It assists the Committee if those submitting written evidence adhere to the
following guidelines:
Each submission should:
state clearly who the submission is from, i.e. whether from yourself in a
personal capacity or sent on behalf of an organisation
be about 3,000 words in length / run to no more than six sides of A4 paper;
as far as possible comprise a single document attachment to the email;
begin with a short summary in bullet point form;
have numbered paragraphs;
be in Word or Rich Text format (not PDF) with as little use of colour or
logos as possible.
Please supply a postal address so a copy of the Committee's report can be
sent to you upon publication.
It would be helpful, for Data Protection purposes, if individuals submitting
written evidence would send their contact details separately in a covering
email in a block of text laid out vertically. You should also be aware that
there may be circumstances in which the House of Commons will be required to
communicate information to third parties on request, in order to comply with
its obligations under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
Though there is a strong preference for emailed submissions, those without
access to a computer should send a hard copy to:
Committee Assistant
Culture, Media and Sport Committee
Committee Office
House of Commons
7 Millbank London
SW1P 3JA
A guide for written submissions to Select Committees may be found on the
parliamentary website.
Please also note that:
Committees make public much of the evidence they receive during inquiries.
If you do not wish your submission to be published, you must clearly say so.
If you wish to include private or confidential information in your
submission to the Committee, please contact the Clerk of the Committee to
discuss this.
Material already published elsewhere should not form the basis of a
submission, but may be referred to within a proposed submission, in which
case a hard copy of the published work should be included.
Evidence submitted must be kept confidential until published by the
Committee, unless publication by the person or organisation submitting it is
specifically authorised.
Once submitted, evidence is the property of the Committee. The Committee
normally, though not always, chooses to make public the written evidence it
receives, by publishing it on the Internet (where it will be searchable), by
printing it or by making it available through the Parliamentary Archives. If
there is any information you believe to be sensitive you should highlight it
and explain what harm you believe would result from its disclosure. The
Committee will take this into account in deciding whether to publish or
further disclose the evidence.
Committees do not normally investigate individual cases of complaint or
allegations of maladministration.
Once submitted, no public use should be made of any submission prepared
specifically for the Committee unless you have first obtained permission
from the Clerk of the Committee.
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