LONDON (UK) – A group of sportsmen, comprising former England defender Gary Neville, ex-Football Association chairman David Bernstein and Olympian Denise Lewis has come out with a manifesto seeking an independent regulation of English football.
Titled “Save our Beautiful Game”, the manifesto was issued by the eight-member group on Thursday and it states that “football has shown itself incapable of self-reform”. It also demands addressing issues such as financial disparity and unsustainability.
The manifesto was issued after the Premier League clubs rebuffed plans for radical changes to the league’s structures and finances in the wake of the pandemic.
“If the English Premier League is to perform its role as the pinnacle of the domestic game its responsibilities and financial contribution to the wider game need to be more carefully defined,” read the manifesto.
“It also needs to be complemented by an effective and independent body to oversee the financial regulation of the game. The FA lacks credibility and has proved to be largely ineffective as a governing body.
“It has not modernised and is not sufficiently independent.”
The group also pointed out the shortage of Black, Asian and ethnic minority coaches and managers at the highest level in the manifesto.
