Man City lawyer claims human rights issues would ‘distract’ football watchdog

A top lawyer representing Manchester City has claimed human rights issues would “distract” a new football regulator if it was required to consider them.

Lord Pannick, who has previously been hired by Boris Johnson and Topshop owner Sir Philip Green, is defending Manchester City against the Premier League’s 115 charges relating to alleged breaches of financial rules.

The independent crossbench peer argued it would take “an enormous amount of time and money” for a watchdog to look at human rights and modern slavery issues when it comes to deciding who is allowed to own a club in the English football pyramid.

His comments came as the House of Lords continued its line-by-line scrutiny of the Football Governance Bill, which introduces a independent regulator for the top five leagues of the men’s game.

Among other things, the Bill is set to bring in new tests for owners and directors of clubs to ensure they are suitable.

Several peers have suggested these tests should consider whether a prospective owner respects human rights and prevents modern slavery while others argued for a flat ban on state-controlled clubs.

In the Premier League, Manchester City is owned by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed bin Sultan Al-Nahyan , vice president of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Newcastle United is owned by the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia.

Both countries have been accused of human rights abuses.

Lord Pannick told peers that a “very strong case” was made to require the regulator to assess whether a prospective owner of a football club respects human rights and prevents modern slavery.

He said: “I’m very sympathetic to the principle, I’m just concerned about the practicality.

“Is it really practical to expect that the regulator is