UK government brings in new football governance bill

English football's independent regulator will have the power to settle the ongoing row over financial distribution between the Premier League and the EFL.

The UK government has long warned the football authorities the regulator would have 'backstop powers' to intervene and those powers will be confirmed on Tuesday when the Football Governance Bill is introduced to Parliament.

"These powers mean that if the leagues fail to agree on a new deal on financial distributions, then the backstop can be triggered to ensure a settlement is reached," a UK government announcement on the Bill said.

Precise details over the point at which the powers would be triggered - and what those powers would look like - have not yet been confirmed but the Government said in a consultation response last September that one option it was considering was binding final offer arbitration.

Under that system, the two leagues would each submit their proposal, the regulator would assess them against predetermined criteria, and then would choose and impose one as the binding arrangement.

There had been hope that the Premier League's clubs would make a formal offer to the EFL at a meeting last Monday, but none was forthcoming and instead the Premier League said its clubs were focused on first agreeing new financial rules for the top flight.

Top flight clubs were accused by Culture, Media and Sport select committee chair Dame Caroline Dinenage of making an "empty promise" while the EFL said it was "clearly disappointed" at the "repeated failure" to put forward any new funding offer.

Premier League sources insist the EFL pushed back on 15 separate points when the Premier League made a proposal covering increased funding and cost controls to the EFL last September.

EFL