Fair Game urge Labour to deliver a fairer future for future

“The in tray for Starmer is massive and no doubt he will be keen to push forward with a large number of legislative changes. We urge the incoming Labour Government to ensure a reworked Football Governance Bill is amongst them.”

Niall Couper, CEO, Fair Game

FAIR GAME today called on the incoming Labour Government to follow through on its promises for change and deliver a Football Governance Bill which creates a fairer future for football.

The Labour Party committed to establishing an independent regulator for football as part of their election manifesto and Fair Game is urging Keir Starmer to introduce an improved Bill in his first Parliament as Prime Minister.

Niall Couper, Fair Game CEO, said:

 “Our congratulations go to Keir Starmer and his new Labour Government.

“The in tray for Starmer is massive and no doubt he will be keen to push forward with a large number of legislative changes. We urge the incoming Labour Government to ensure a reworked Football Governance Bill is amongst them.

“Change is urgently needed and it could be a quick win.

“The Bill was days away from completing its passage when the General Election was called and football cannot afford for it to fall away now.

“This is also an opportunity to make some much-needed changes to the Bill to safeguard the future of our national game. While the structure of the Bill was robust, it was flawed in many ways. Financial flow was not addressed, the owners and directors test needed strengthening, support for clubs to implement the change was overlooked, and an early commitment to equality standards had been shelved.

“Fair Game and our legal partners have looked at the Bill line by line, and have identified the necessary tweaks needed to make the Bill fit for purpose.

“We have a fully prepared version that the new Government can bring forward and will be seeking to work with Keir Starmer and the new culture secretary and sports minister to help deliver those changes and create a fairer future for football.

“Keir Starmer is vocal about his love of the game and visited numerous lower league football clubs during his campaign, so I hope he knows how important football is to local communities.

“The need for an overhaul of the governance of our national game grows stronger every day.

“Now he has the chance to deliver.”