Independent Football Regulator to urge cost controls as draft report reveals 94% of clubs in the red
Landmark study exposes fragile finances across English game
The Independent Football Regulator (IFR) will on Tuesday publish its long-awaited State of the Game report, recommending that clubs introduce far greater cost controls after a 250-page draft laid bare the parlous state of English men's football.
According to the Guardian, the draft — a final version will follow in the spring after an eight-week public consultation beginning this week — will paint a damning picture of the sport's finances, including the stark finding that 94% of the top 116 clubs are loss-making.
The report, the most detailed study ever undertaken of the football industry and its finances, sprang out of the Football Governance Act, which created the IFR, and has taken almost 18 months to produce. It will set out a series of recommendations for both the regulator and clubs to improve sustainability.
Kogan and Monks to face Manchester on Tuesday
The IFR chair, David Kogan, and chief executive, Richard Monks, will provide more details at a press conference in Manchester on Tuesday. That event is likely to be dominated by questions about whether the regulator could force the sale of Manchester City if the mass guilty verdicts of an independent commission are upheld on appeal.
As administrators of an enhanced owners, directors and senior executives test, the IFR has powers to assess the suitability of owners and executives “where there is clear evidence of wrongdoing by individuals.”
Implications for the Premier League-EFL divide
EFL clubs have been awaiting the report in the hope that it will give them greater impetus as they continue to negotiate with the Premier League over a new financial settlement. That may not necessarily be the case, however, given details that may emerge of extravagant and unsustainable spending by many lower-division clubs. The IFR has powers to impose a settlement on the leagues if they cannot agree themselves, and both sides are likely to seize on elements of the report to bolster their arguments.