Why Man City owners won't be 'kicked out' after latest Premier League ban proposal

The Football Governance Bill that seeks to establish and independent regulator of English football was back in focus this week after it was revealed an amendment had been proposed that would seek to ban state ownership of clubs.

Last week, the Times reported that Labour peer Lord Bassam of Brighton had proposed an amendment to the bill which called for legislation that would place a ban on any state-controlled football club being granted an operating licence unless that they could provide clear separation between the state and the entity which owned the football club.

City Football Group are the ultimate owners of Manchester City, with CFG chief Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al-Nahyan having acquired the club back in 2008. But with Sheikh Mansour being Manchester City’s principal owner, his role as deputy prime minister and vice-president of the United Arab Emirates means that the club would have been in the crosshairs of regulators should such an amendment be passed.

The same would apply to Newcastle United’s owners, the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF), which is the sovereign wealth fund of the Middle Eastern nation, with the PIF’s chairman being Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto ruler of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA).

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The PIF deal to acquire Newcastle was passed by the Premier League in October 2021, with the Conservative government at the time under Boris Johnson less than keen to put up roadblocks to inward investment in Great Britain and impact relations with KSA.

According to Lord Bassam's proposal, the legislation would state: "No