No need for official football regulator, says English Premier League

LONDON - The English Premier League, home to some of the world's biggest football clubs, said Monday that there was no need for an official regulator for the sport.

The English Premier League outlined its stance after the British government paved the way for a major reform of how football is governed.

The government announced it establish an independent regulator in football after endorsing recommendations made in a fan-led review into the game.

The regulator will be given powers to sanction clubs in English football that break financial and other rules. There will also be a new owners' test and legislation to give fans more say in the running of the game.

"For too long the football authorities have collectively been unable to tackle some of the biggest issues in the game," said the British government's Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries. "The government took decisive action to conduct the fan-led review and today we have endorsed every one of its 10 strategic recommendations."

The Premier League said in a statement it recognized and accepted the case for reform and for a strengthened regulatory system across football, but added "we welcome the clarity from the government about their position, and are committed to working with them during this next phase of consultation, although we will continue to maintain that it is not necessary for there to be a statutory-backed regulator".

The Premier League said since the publication of a fan-led review, it, along with the league's clubs, has been working at pace to understand the full impact of the review's recommendations and design and implement policies in response to its objectives.

"We agree that fans are of vital importance to the game and their voices should be better listened to across the League. We will be introducing a number of measures to improve this area and plan to make a detailed announcement before the start of the 2022-2023 season," the statement added.