Labour Party

Subterms

    More stories

    • 263 Shares119 Views

      in Soccer

      Karren Brady: Our game does NOT need Labour’s ‘football regulator’… we have the FA, and are better off the Wembley way

      by

      NEVER mix sport and politics is an age-old expression and right now it is as accurate as a Harry Kane penalty.Labour Party deputy leader Angela Rayner made a joke-laden speech this week at her party’s conference, in which she outlined plans to create a new football regulator.
      Angela Rayner and Labour want to bring in a new football regulatorCredit: EPA
      The FA currently regulate football… and that’s the way it should beCredit: Reuters
      It was mentioned right alongside sewage control, which was rather fitting as it’s a foul idea.
      Football already has a regulator — it’s called the Football Association.
      The FA is the right and proper regulator for the game in England and Wales.
      It looks after all areas of governance, including anti-doping, gambling, safeguarding — the list goes on.
      Read More Football News
      Rayner continued by saying the Labour Party “together will transform this country”.
      I don’t wish to curb her enthusiasm but government and the “beautiful game” should be many, many football pitches apart.
      The fan-led Tracey Crouch review has been a great catalyst for change at the FA and there has already been widespread reform in their corridors of power.
      More importantly, the FA already remains truly independent — something it would not be if the Government started poking their noses in.
      Most read in Sport
      CASINO SPECIAL – BEST NEW CUSTOMER SIGN UP DEALS
      If the Government appointed an outside regulator, it would be akin to asking state approval for this, that and the other.
      It would be the Ofsted of football — governed by poorly designed regulations, with lots of paperwork, it would be highly burdensome and expensive and take years to set up and implement.
      Plus, what would the international bodies, Uefa and Fifa, have to say about it — would they stand by and happily allow another  outside regulator with no  knowledge of the game to set rules they are supposed to  ultimately govern? I doubt it.
      For those cynics who say I’m only backing the FA as they would give clubs an easier ride — stacks of yellow cards and precious little red — my answer would be this…
      Why not give the FA the chance to show what it can do and, if it doesn’t deliver, the Government can intervene.
      By giving the FA the remit, it’s a real live test to see if they have the muscle to do it. Nothing ventured nothing gained.  It might not be perfect from the get-go — but it would certainly be progress.
      Rayner and her buddies see this as a way to push their “pro-fans” credentials ahead of a general election, which is two years away.
      Labour wants to create a regulator with extensive powers, including financial ones, designed to extend Premier League revenues “more fairly”.
      Contrary to popular myth the Premier League’s success is already widely shared.
       We already give away 20 per cent of our annual revenue to the EFL, FA, charity and so on. Name another industry that does that?
      I don’t wish to curb her enthusiasm but government and the “beautiful game” should be many, many football pitches apart.Karren Brady on Angela Rayner
      Over the next three years £1.6billion will be committed by the Premier League to the other 72 league clubs, the women’s game, charity and grass-roots facilities.
      That’s not including money the EFL makes from player transfers and Carabao Cup revenue.
      This pot-sharing makes the EFL the best-funded second-tier league in the world, with the best-paid second-tier players.
      Not since Portsmouth has there been a significant regulatory failure in the Premier League.
      The likes of Derby, Bury and Macclesfield were in the EFL, where regulations were not  adequately enforced.
      The FA must be doing something right as nearly all the clubs from the professional league system introduced in the 1920s are still in existence, many within two divisions of where they were back then.
      Read More on The Sun
      I think the Premier League has a decent track record when it comes to finances and, don’t forget, players pay their dues — to the tune of £1.5bn in taxes last year.
      That’s money which does make a huge contribution to the nation’s coffers at a time when, boy, we certainly need it. More

    • 175 Shares199 Views

      in Soccer

      England risk being kicked out of the World Cup under barmy Labour border plans

      by

      ENGLAND risk being kicked out of the World Cup under barmy Labour border plans.
      Sir Keir Starmer wants arrivals from every country to spend ten days in hotel quarantine.

      😷 Read our coronavirus live blog for the latest news & updates

      England risk being kicked out of the World Cup under barmy Labour border plans that would see arrivals from every country to spend ten days in hotel quarantineCredit: Getty Images – Getty

      Under the proposals Gareth Southgate’s team would have to forfeit qualification games in Poland, San Marino and AlbaniaCredit: PA:Press Association

      There are no exemptions for elite sports stars coming from nations where quarantining in hotels is requiredCredit: Getty Images – Getty
      There would be no exemptions for Three Lions aces.
      Currently, the measures will apply to 33 countries and there are no exemptions for elite sports stars coming from nations where quarantining in hotels is required.
      But if the proposals were expanded under Labour’s plans, England’s World Cup qualification games in Poland, San Marino and Albania would have to be forfeited.

      Gareth Southgate’s team would be handed a 3-0 loss in each game, severely denting their chances of qualifying for Qatar 2022.
      If the games did go ahead, they’d risk the Premier League’s wrath as stars would be held for ten days in hotels on their return.
      The move would also throw the Euros, the Premier League, the Champions League, rugby’s Six Nations and the new Formula 1 season into chaos.
      MPs will vote on Labour’s proposal which lists one exemption to the blanket ban — for hauliers.

      Labour’s Shadow Home Secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds said: ‘By quarantining all arrivals, we can help protect vaccines against new strains’Credit: PA:Press Association
      Labour’s Shadow Home Secretary, Nick Thomas-Symonds said: “By quarantining all arrivals, we can help protect vaccines against new strains.”
      But the Premier League has worked hard to make teams Covid secure, with players often travelling in bubbles.
      A Tory Party spokesman said: “Labour’s plan to put 20,000 people a day in hotels is implausible.”
      An insider said: “All sports have the strictest covid protocols but if these measures were introduced British teams in Europe have a real headache over how to compete.
      “That in turn would have financial implication, as well as issues over future qualification.”
      The source added the measures would impact the “already truncated” season which needs to finished before the delayed Euros this summer – which would also be affected by the measures, as Wembley stadium hosts all three England group games, the semi-finals and final.
      Motor racing would also be affected, with the Formula 1 season set to start in weeks in Bahrain.
      Races in “red listed” Brazil and Abu Dhabi are taking place at the end of the year, when organisers hope restrictions have been lifted.

      The England Football team could miss out on next year’s World Cup due to Labour’s proposalsCredit: Times Newspapers Ltd
      A Formula 1 spokesman said: “Last year we proved we could compete safely with over 80,000 tests and 0.1 per cent positives.
      “We employ over 40,000 both directly and indirectly through supply chains and have over 25,000 highly skilled engineers.
      “We cannot operate if we cannot travel and the elite sport exemption is quite simply keeping our sport and others going and saving jobs.”
      A Whitehall source said: “So long as we remain confident on public health grounds, we’d support players travelling to compete.
      “A blanket ban would effectively stop us playing in international competitions and be devastating for sports’ finances.
      “At various points Labour have tried to disrupt sport continuing through covid, whereas the government has done everything it can to keep it going safely”.

      Qatar are due to host the tournament in 2022

      A Labour spokesman said: “Labour’s proposals outlined do include scope for exemptions, we have asked the Government to provide all of the basis or the decisions around exemptions. 
      “Every effort should be made to allow elite international sport to continue, through quarantine exemption, although the key priority has to be against importing a strain of the virus that is resistant to the vaccine.”
      The Premier League declined to comment.

      Mourinho slams managers who tell stars to skip internationals
      GOT a story? RING The Sun on 0207 782 4104 or WHATSAPP on 07423720250 or EMAIL exclusive@the-sun.co.uk More