I DON’T suppose Pep Guardiola is sitting in his office thinking of ways to change a winning formula. So why is it that we want to do so?
The Premier League is the market leader in football. It’s the most-watched, most-loved and most-trusted league in the world.
It attracts the biggest names to these shores as well as being one of the UK’s most-respected global exports.
But we are being told that’s not good enough. The game needs a Government-approved regulator.
Hmm. Just think about regulators, please, for a second.
Rishi Sunak must be a leader, not just a manager
They’ve done a fantastic job cleaning up our rivers, haven’t they? And what about ridding the City of scheming bankers?
Everywhere you look heavily regulated industries have produced massive failures.
This country has many fine establishments and organisations, from our leading universities to our remarkable record in film, music, fashion and the arts. But I’d argue the Premier League is our biggest success story.
There was a time when foreigners coming to Britain would ask their taxi driver if they had ever met the Queen. But today they want to talk about the Premier League.
Voices have backed this regulator-will-make-things-better nonsense as they say, ‘The football pyramid is suffering. The greedy grabbers at the top aren’t giving the lower leagues any backing’. Rubbish.
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Around 16 per cent of Premier League revenues goes directly to the rest of the pyramid and helps to make the Championship the SIXTH richest league in Europe.
The Premier League provides 94,000 jobs and pays £4billion a year in tax revenues for the country. And remember, it is played in Newcastle and Nottingham, Burnley and Brighton. It’s not just flashy old London Town.
Also, international fans do not follow just a single team but the whole league as it is an exciting, unpredictable competition, with well over a century of tradition and history.
The Premier League has competition from the Champions League and, to an extent, the NFL. It means we can compete for the biggest stars, who kids can see on their club’s pitch and dream about.
Rishi Sunak vows the 'fightback starts here' despite Labour's massive poll lead
This legislation would make England the first major country to enforce a regulator.
So, we have by common consent the best league in the world, played in some of the finest stadiums, but we want to risk that. Why?
'We need another level of regulation like a hole in the head'
I’ve heard supporters say a regulator would not drive away investment or affect the competitive nature of the Premier League, but where is the proof for that?
All we know is a regulator adds another level of red tape to a game which used to be a simple one. Football has surely had enough of people meddling with it. Some recent rule changes have baffled fans.
Good luck in trying to decipher what is and is not a handball these days. We need another level of regulation like a hole in the head.
We’ve led the world in football for many years. But that is not guaranteed to last for ever.
Uefa and Fifa are always trying to grab a bigger slice of football’s cake and if they had their way, domestic leagues would be just cannon fodder for their own competitions.
Everywhere you look there are blasted regulators and if you can find one that has actually improved our daily lives, you’re a better man, or woman, than me.
Football. We are good at it. We are the envy of the world, with fans from Latvia cheering on Liverpool, Manchurians backing Manchester City, Luton fans in Liberia and Bulgarians who love Brighton.
If ever there was an own goal, this is surely it.
