Manchester City and Newcastle are both state-owned teams, but they may be obliged to sell if a new amendment is included to the upcoming Football Governance Bill.
The new Football Governance Bill has been amended to include a prohibition on state-owned clubs in English football.
The measure, which attempts to establish an independent football regulator, is currently in committee in the House of Lords. There, Labour peer Lord Bassam of Brighton submitted an amendment to the bill that would require Manchester City and Newcastle’s current owners to sell if the move is approved.
According to Lord Bassam’s suggestion, the legislation would read as follows: “No state-controlled club may be granted an operating licence, and any affected club must satisfy the IFR [independent football regulator] that they have divested themselves of state control before applying for an operating licence.”
“A state-controlled club is one which is wholly or majority-owned by individual(s), entities, or entities controlled by individual(s) who are deemed by the IFR or the secretary of state to be under the influence of any state actor, including but not limited to: members of any government or their immediate family, a head of state or their immediate family, diplomats, lobbyists, or other state representatives, or their immediate family, and sovereign wealth funds.”
The amendment would apply directly to Manchester City and Newcastle, which are controlled by Sheikh Mansour, the vice-president of the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), respectively.
According to the Times, the proposal’s chances of becoming part of the final measure are’small’, and analysts believe the government is unlikely to want to completely prohibit state ownership.
“The bill will not address state ownership, and it is clear that the government does not want to be involved in moral or ethical decisions,” football finance specialist Kieran Maguire told Sky.
Jon Tonge, a politics professor at the University of Liverpool, added: “State ownership is unlikely to diminish; in fact, it is likely to rise. I believe Labour would be hesitant to prohibit it, first and foremost because the horse has already bolted – if you allow it for one, how can you prevent others from following suit?”
