The Independent Football Regulator (IFR) has announced a new owners’ test that is designed to block “rogue” individuals from buying and running football clubs in England.
Members of Parliament voted to back a Football Governance Bill earlier this year in order toestablish an independent regulatorto oversee the men’s game in England’s top five divisions.
In its first major policy announcement, the IFR said it plans to establish a new owners, directors and senior executives test that will “give powers to take action when owners or directors fail to meet new requirements”.
It will operate independently from the existing owners’ and directors’ test, which is applied to all prospective buyers of clubs throughout English football by the relevant leagues.
The Premier League has previously said that it would continue to operate its own Owners’ and Directors’ Test separately to the Football Regulator.
The test has been widely criticised for allowing unfit personnel to acquire football clubs in recent years.
The IFR said the new proposals will allow it to “hold clubs and individuals to account” through the use of financial penalties, public censure and requiring an owner to divest from a club.
The test will assess the “honesty, integrity and financial soundness” of individuals looking to buy a football club and they must prove they have the “necessary skills and experience” to do so.
The IFR’s proposals will be able to review not just new prospective owners of a club, but those already in position.
“Good owners, running clubs effectively, will experience minimal impact. However, if the IFR has concerns about the suitability of an incumbent, it will be able to take action,” said the IFR in a statement.
The proposals still need to be ratified and members of the public have until 6 October to participate in a consultation process.
The IFR will publish its response to these consultations later this year, and hope to go live soon after.
There are currently limited options to prevent owners who are not providing adequate funding for their club from doing so, whether that is by the leagues, the regulator, or the government.
Championship club Sheffield Wednesday have been thrown into financial turmoil under owner Dejphon Chansiri.
The Owls are under investigation by the English Football League due to a number of financial issues, including late payments to HM Revenue & Customs, a failure to pay transfer fees to other clubs, and delayed salary payments to staff and players.
Despite several offers to buy the club, Chansiri has refused to sell.
National League side Morecambe came within days of closure in July after being plunged into financial distress under former owner Jason Whittingham.
The club were relegated from League Two last season to exacerbate their already precarious financial position.
Whittingham sacked the club’s board of directors after they announced plans to place the club into administration.
Morecambe were subsequently suspended by the National League until 20 August, although the suspension was lifted following a takeover by the Panjab Warriors.
