From the FSF website-
An MP has today tabled a bill in Parliament calling for total transparency
on club ownership and an end to the “football creditors rule”. The Football
(Financial Transparency) Bill has been introduced by Damian Collins MP who
sits on the influential Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee.
Collins said: "I believe that it is important that we take a stand and do
our bit to clean up football in our country and give our fans a proper say
and stake in how their clubs are run."
If passed any club playing in the top four tiers of English and Scottish
professional football would be required by law to identity its owners. Clubs
would also have to reveal any “outstanding creditors”, who owned their
stadium, and training ground.
The Conservative MP's Bill would also place a legal imperative on clubs to
declare any “third party stake” in their players. This aims to prevent a
repeat of the 2006 Carlos Tevez-Javier Mascherano case. The Argentinean pair
moved from Brazilian side Corinthians to West Ham United but it emerged that
both players’ “economic rights” were owned by third party companies.
The Premier League fined the Hammers £5.5m in April 2007 but chose not to
dock the club any points. Tevez subsequently played a major role in keeping
the Hammers in the top-flight, much to the chagrin of relegated Sheffield
United. In 2008 the Premier League introduced its own rules barring third
party ownership and Collins’ Bill would enshrine this in law.
Football creditors rule
The Bill would also put an end to the controversial football creditors rule
which requires clubs to prioritise football debts ahead of those from
outside the game. This means a club that has gone into administration can
continue to pay its players and other clubs in full while small businesses
and non-football contractors might receive a tiny fraction of what they are
owed.
Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs challenged the rule at the High Court in
November 2011. Lawyers representing HMRC called the football creditors rule
“the ugly side of the beautiful game” and called for it to be overturned.
The Premier League and Football League dispute this and argue that the rule
is fair and necessary. Mr Justice David Richards’ verdict is expected in the
next few weeks.
Speaking in the House of Commons, Collins said: "I believe we should be
concerned when communities have to stand by powerless when their club is
stripped of its assets and left drowning in a sea of debt it can never hope
to repay. I believe we should be concerned when taxpayers lose millions in
unpaid taxes when clubs go into administration, and when local businesses
are left out of pocket and at risk of financial failure as a result.
"I believe that we should be concerned when, in a global game, millions of
pounds are passing in and out of this country to buy clubs and players and
we cannot be sure of the source or destination of that money. I believe we
should be concerned when players can effectively be trafficked around the
world under the control of the third-party interests who control them."
John Mann MP's (Lab) said the Bill was "a very worthy proposal" and
suggested its scope be widened to include non-league outfits: "Far more
non-league clubs have gone into administration, and a considerable number
have been liquidated.
"Whether in Worksop, Halifax, York, Wrexham, Crawley, Salisbury, Boston or
Lincoln, non-league football across the country has been plagued by the
problem of people buying clubs, asset-stripping and attempting to develop
the land. It is a fundamental problem." This was agreed and the Bill will
get its second reading in Parliament on Friday 27th April.
Collins’ Bill is what’s known as a 10-Minute Rule. While this type of Bill
rarely passes into law �" the last time this happened was in 2002 �" they
serve a very useful purpose in drawing media attention onto a specific
issue.
The Football (Financial Transparency) Bill asks: “That leave be given to
bring in a Bill to require a football club playing in the top four tiers of
English and Scottish professional football to disclose the identity of its
owner, the identity of the owner of its home playing ground, training
ground, any intellectual property associated with the club or a third party
stake in its players and the identities of outstanding creditors; to require
all creditors of a football club to be compensated equally should the club
go into administration; and for connected purposes.”
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