Professional Football (Regulation)

I suppose that the straightforward answer is that there will always be circumstances in which that could be considered, but that is a matter for the relevant authorities, which are much better placed to make that decision than politicians. Before the break, I set out some improvements to governance and regulation that the Football League has made. By those actions, it has shown that it can be trusted to regulate its own affairs, at least for the moment. Further up the football tree, the premier league is inevitably the centre of attention, as recent events—indeed, today's events—have shown. However, we should balance the lurid headlines by remembering that it is the best league in the world, as well as the UK's most successful sporting export. More than 13.5 million people—our constituents—attended its games last year, so the balance is that the premier league is a remarkable success story. After listening to this debate, one might think that the premier league had done nothing in recent years. However, among other things, it has strengthened the fit and proper persons test and introduced new financial criteria, which are a step forward. In my view, on balance, the premier league deserves the chance to sort things out before we resort to direct intervention.