Sport governance

Culture, Media and Sport Committee Closed Regular evidence sessions
Opened: 8 Nov 2021 Closed: 5 Feb 2024 Parliament page
6 Recommendations
5 Conclusions
2 Reports
7 Oral sessions
9 Letters
7 Events
Activity timeline 27 events
26 Sep
2023
Report published
30 Jun
2023
Report published
16 May
2023
Correspondence
18 Apr
2023
Correspondence
18 Apr
2023
Correspondence
28 Mar
2023
Oral evidence
28 Mar
2023
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · The Grimond Room, Portcullis House
7 Mar
2023
Correspondence
14 Dec
2022
Correspondence
13 Dec
2022
Oral evidence
13 Dec
2022
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · The Grimond Room, Portcullis House
24 Nov
2022
Oral evidence
Oral evidence sessions 7 sessions
28 Mar 2023
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Debbie Hewitt MBE · The Football Association Kevin Miles · Football Supporters' Association Richard Masters · The Premier League Rick Parry · English Football League Tracey Crouch CBE MP
13 Dec 2022
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Azeem Rafiq George Dobell Jahid Ahmed The Lord Patel of Bradford OBE · Yorkshire County Cricket Club
24 Nov 2022
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Bill Sweeney · Rugby Football Union Carol Hart · Worcester Warriors community foundation Judith Batchelar OBE · The Rugby Players Association Robin Walker MP · Northern Ireland Office Simon Massie-Taylor · Premiership Rugby
8 Feb 2022
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Anuj Dal · Professional Cricketers' Association Geoff Thompson MBE · Professional Footballers' Association James Harris · Professional Cricketers' Association Julian Metherell · Professional Cricketers' Association Maheta Molango · Professional Footballers' Association Rob Lynch · Professional Cricketers' Association
25 Jan 2022
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Barry O’Brien · England and Wales Cricket Board Gareth Williams · Glamorgan County Cricket Club Martin Darlow · England and Wales Cricket Board Mike O'Farrell · Middlesex County Cricket Club Rod Bransgrove · Hampshire County Cricket Club The Lord Patel of Bradford OBE · Yorkshire County Cricket Club The Rt Hon. the Baroness Amos LG CH · England and Wales Cricket Board Tom Harrison · England and Wales Cricket Board
7 Dec 2021
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Adil Mehmood · Quaid e Azam Premier Cricket League Basharat Hussain · Quaid e Azam Premier Cricket League Tracey Crouch MP
16 Nov 2021
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Azeem Rafiq to give evidence to MPs with questions facing senior YCCC leadership and ECB
Alan Dickinson · England and Wales Cricket Board Azeem Rafiq Kate Miller · England and Wales Cricket Board Meena Botros · England and Wales Cricket Board Roger Hutton · Yorkshire County Cricket Club The Lord Patel of Bradford OBE · Yorkshire County Cricket Club Tom Harrison · England and Wales Cricket Board
Title HC No. Published Items Response
Ninth Report - Football Governance HC 1288 30 Jun 2023 11 Responded
Seventh Report - Racism in cricket HC 1001 14 Jan 2022 0 Responded
Recommendations & Conclusions
11 results
1 Conclusion Acknowledged
Ninth Report - Football Governance
Establishing a Shadow Regulator for English Football quickly is crucial for effective implementation.
We welcome the Government’s commitment to establish an Independent Regulator. Introducing a Shadow Regulator as soon as possible to recruit staff and begin engagement and preparatory work is invaluable for clubs, leagues and other football stakeholders might help avoid unintended … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees reform should happen sooner and is working at pace to deliver an independent regulator when parliamentary time allows. It states a formal shadow regulator would require a Bill's second reading but assures that preparatory work is happening regardless.
Department for Culture, Media and Sport
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2 Recommendation Deferred
Ninth Report - Football Governance
Establish a Shadow Independent Regulator for English Football by end of 2023 and pass required legislation.
We recommend that the Government should establish the Independent Regulator for English Football in a shadow form by the end of 2023 to ensure that it can begin initial engagement and preparatory work before waiting for legislation to be passed. … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees on the importance of transitional arrangements but then entirely pivots its response to discussing fan engagement standards, the Regulator's role in oversight, and existing club engagement, without addressing the specific recommendation to establish a shadow regulator by end of 2023 or the timeline for legislation.
Department for Culture, Media and Sport
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3 Conclusion Accepted
Ninth Report - Football Governance
Premier League fan engagement standards are inadequate for consistent high-quality club interaction.
We welcome the Premier League’s fan engagement standard and commend the Premier League for acting prior to the publication of the White Paper. However, the level of fan engagement from Premier League and EFL clubs still varies wildly and we … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees that the Regulator should independently set fan engagement standards and will have legal authority to do so, assessing clubs and potentially applying additional licence conditions beyond current industry standards.
Department for Culture, Media and Sport
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4 Conclusion Deferred
Ninth Report - Football Governance
IREF presents a significant opportunity to accelerate and strengthen fan engagement in football.
The introduction of IREF remains a great opportunity to increase the pace of the important work that is already underway at football clubs consulting and engaging with their fans. Whilst clubs should be encouraged to exceed fan engagement standards and … Read more
Government Response
The government states the Regulator's primary focus will be on financial sustainability, systemic stability, and protecting club heritage, not the wider fan engagement standards or independent regulatory framework, which it believes are best led by the industry.
Department for Culture, Media and Sport
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5 Recommendation Accepted
Ninth Report - Football Governance
Require IREF to set higher fan engagement licensing conditions independently of existing standards.
IREF, beginning in shadow form, should ensure that its licencing conditions regarding fan engagement are set independently of the current Premier League Fan Engagement Standard. Unless there is immediate and significant change from leagues and clubs, we expect that IREF … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees that the Regulator should set fan engagement standards independently and will have legal authority to do so, assessing clubs' structures and outcomes, and potentially applying additional licence conditions to ensure higher levels of engagement.
Department for Culture, Media and Sport
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6 Conclusion Deferred
Ninth Report - Football Governance
Limited progress on EDI outcomes in football highlights need for universal standards
The inclusion of concrete, universal EDI measures in the new Football Governance Code is a necessary step to address the significant concerns about a lack of EDI oversight in football. The work on EDI done by the leagues to date … Read more
Government Response
The government outlines its commitment to establishing the Independent Football Regulator with backstop powers to intervene on financial distributions and bringing forward legislation. However, it does not specifically address the recommendation for concrete, universal EDI measures in the new Football Governance Code.
Department for Culture, Media and Sport
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7 Recommendation Rejected
Ninth Report - Football Governance
Ensure substantive EDI measures are included in the new Code for Football Governance
We recommend that, while in shadow form, IREF should look to existing corporate governance codes and work with stakeholders to ensure that substantive EDI measures are included in the new Code for Football Governance.
Government Response
The government supports calls for EDI but rejects the recommendation for the Regulator (IREF) to include substantive EDI measures in the Code for Football Governance, stating that these wider issues are best led by the industry.
Department for Culture, Media and Sport
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8 Recommendation Rejected
Ninth Report - Football Governance
Empower IREF to mandate EDI Action Plans as club licensing conditions
We are concerned that the Government has ignored recommendations to include EDI Action Plans for clubs and oversight of these plans within IREF’s remit. We believe that IREF would be well placed to receive and publish standardised data on compliance … Read more
Government Response
The government rejects the recommendation to give IREF authority to mandate and assess EDI Action Plans, stating that the Regulator's primary purpose is financial sustainability and wider EDI issues are best led by the industry.
Department for Culture, Media and Sport
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9 Conclusion Accepted
Ninth Report - Football Governance
Football organisations must resolve revenue distribution deadlock to secure financial sustainability
The financial sustainability of the football pyramid is the responsibility of football itself. Football organisations can, and should, be the ones to find a solution to the current deadlock of revenue distribution. We welcome that progress seems to have been … Read more
Government Response
The government echoes the Committee's call for football authorities to reach a financial agreement and reiterates its commitment to establishing a Regulator with statutory powers to intervene as a last resort, aligning with the Committee's conclusion.
Department for Culture, Media and Sport
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10 Recommendation Acknowledged
Ninth Report - Football Governance
Reach urgent agreement on sharing higher proportion of revenue across football pyramid
We urge football authorities, including the Premier League, EFL and the FA, to urgently reach an agreement on sharing a higher proportion of revenue with clubs down the football pyramid before the establishment of IREF. This should include no increase … Read more
Government Response
The government echoes the Committee's call for football authorities to urgently reach a revenue sharing agreement and states that the future Regulator will have targeted powers to intervene as a last resort if they fail to agree.
Department for Culture, Media and Sport
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11 Recommendation Acknowledged
Ninth Report - Football Governance
Expedite plans to establish Independent Regulator with power to mandate revenue sharing solution
If there are no immediate signs of progress on revenue sharing, the Government should expedite its plans to establish the Independent Regulator with the power to mandate a solution. (Paragraph 44) 20 Football Governance
Government Response
The government reiterates its commitment to establishing a Regulator with powers to intervene in financial distributions as a last resort, noting ongoing work to design this mechanism, but does not commit to expediting its establishment.
Department for Culture, Media and Sport
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Government Response AI assessment · 11 of 6 classified
Accepted 3
Acknowledged 3
Deferred 3
Rejected 2
Total 6 recs + 5 conclusions
Correspondence 9 letters
16 May 2023 To committee Letter from Richard Masters, Chief Executive, Premier League, relating to the oral evidence session on 28 March 2023, dated 2 May 2023
Parliament page
18 Apr 2023 To committee Letter from Rick Parry, Chair, English Football League, relating to the oral evidence session on 28 March 2023, dated 6 April 2023
Parliament page
18 Apr 2023 To committee Letter from Debbie Hewitt MBE, Chair, The Football Association, relating to the oral evidence session on 28 March 2023, dated 31 March 2023
Parliament page
7 Mar 2023 To committee Letter from Bill Sweeney, Chief Executive, RFU, relating to the oral evidence session on 24 November 2022, dated 23 February 2023
Parliament page
14 Dec 2022 Written evidence submitted by Azeem Rafiq
Parliament page
18 Oct 2022 To committee Letter from Ben Wright, Director of External Affairs, Professional Footballers' Association, relating to the Independent Review of the PFA, 30 August 2022
Parliament page
16 Mar 2022 To committee Letter from the Chair to Robin Smith, Former Chair, Yorkshire County Cricket Club, relating to allegations in a Daily Mail article, 16 March 2022
Parliament page
23 Nov 2021 To committee Letter from Roger Hutton, former Chair, Yorkshire County Cricket Club, re follow-up to oral evidence session on 16 November, 22 November 2021
Parliament page
16 Nov 2021 Azeem Rafiq Witness Statement to the Leeds employment tribunal
Parliament page