News Alerts
Headlines
Caborn tells Premier League that it must reform
England - 09 May, 2007
Adjust font size:
British sports minister Richard Caborn had told the Premier League that, if it doesn't comply with the football reforms, it likely will face legal challenges.
League officials are concerned that some of the reforms could siphon the power from some of its top clubs.
The European Commission's report on a new framework for sport is due soon, and ministers led by Caborn want measures that could change the way sport is governed.
The ministers want the commission to give sport an exemption from European Union rules that encourage free markets and open competition. They are mostly concerned about the power of rich clubs in the transfer market, which ministers and national sports federations believe undermines the integrity of sport, and takes away from the development of home-grown talent.
Top-tier clubs would be limited in the number of players they could have from overseas. Leagues are concerned about losing control of their clubs to UEFA.
"There are storm clouds gathering on Europe's skies. Unless you get in there and influence what is being proposed then you could well be the recipient of much stricter legislation of things that go against you," Caborn said. "What the Premier League have got to acknowledge is that the government of football is not the Premier League, it is the FA, UEFA and FIFA. They have got to work inside the governance of football and not the 20 clubs of the Premier League."
Caborn even argues that some reforms favour the Premier League. The regulation of football agents and the right for leagues to tender collectively for television rights on a commercial basis definitely help the leagues.
"What is on offer is neither appropriate or deliverable," read a response from the Premier League." The idea that there is a crisis in European football that is unique in nature is a flawed concept; consequently, the solutions currently being proposed are at the same time heavy-handed and unworkable.
"We don't want exemptions from European law; just for it to be applied sensitively and appropriately to the nature of the sports industry. The idea that football can have a status that supersedes European competition or labour laws is not one we'd be comfortable with and neither would the European Commission."
League officials are concerned that some of the reforms could siphon the power from some of its top clubs.
The European Commission's report on a new framework for sport is due soon, and ministers led by Caborn want measures that could change the way sport is governed.
The ministers want the commission to give sport an exemption from European Union rules that encourage free markets and open competition. They are mostly concerned about the power of rich clubs in the transfer market, which ministers and national sports federations believe undermines the integrity of sport, and takes away from the development of home-grown talent.
Top-tier clubs would be limited in the number of players they could have from overseas. Leagues are concerned about losing control of their clubs to UEFA.
"There are storm clouds gathering on Europe's skies. Unless you get in there and influence what is being proposed then you could well be the recipient of much stricter legislation of things that go against you," Caborn said. "What the Premier League have got to acknowledge is that the government of football is not the Premier League, it is the FA, UEFA and FIFA. They have got to work inside the governance of football and not the 20 clubs of the Premier League."
Caborn even argues that some reforms favour the Premier League. The regulation of football agents and the right for leagues to tender collectively for television rights on a commercial basis definitely help the leagues.
"What is on offer is neither appropriate or deliverable," read a response from the Premier League." The idea that there is a crisis in European football that is unique in nature is a flawed concept; consequently, the solutions currently being proposed are at the same time heavy-handed and unworkable.
"We don't want exemptions from European law; just for it to be applied sensitively and appropriately to the nature of the sports industry. The idea that football can have a status that supersedes European competition or labour laws is not one we'd be comfortable with and neither would the European Commission."
Source: euFootball.BIZ © Copyright 2006 -
All rights reserved.
© Copyright message
The copying, republication, redistribution or web posting (including by framing or similar means) of this content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of euFootball.BIZ
-
Finance
Television
Sponsorship
Marketing
Technology
Competitions
Clubs
Stadia-Facilities
Legal
Administration
Events