By Victor Kanayo
European football body, UEFA, has warned that England could be banned from competing at the Euros once the country goes ahead with a push to create men’s football regulator.
This was disclosed in a leaked letter from UEFA’s General-Secretary, Theodore Theodoridis, to Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy.
UEFA specifically warned against any “government” interference in the running of football’.
According to a source, the letter lays out the huge ramifications on not only the national side but the potential impact on top Premier League teams like Manchester City and Liverpool participating in the Champions League.
Europe’s football governing body is said to be ”watching closely” and will step in if “a line is crossed” that could see England being thrown out of UEFA.
That in turn would put any hopes in tatters of England playing in the next World Cup as UEFA administers the qualifiers for the tournament.
Part of the letter reads, “One particular area of concern stems from one of UEFA’s fundamental requirements, which is that there should be ‘no government interference in the running of football.”
“We have specific rules that guard against this in order to guarantee the autonomy of sport and fairness of sporting competition; the ultimate sanction for which would be excluding the federation from UEFA and teams from competition.”
The UK Government had disclosed plans for what it called ‘Football Governance Bill’, to give way for an independent regulator of the top five tiers of English football – the Premier League, EFL Championship, League One, League Two and the National League.
The bill is said to be framed to enhance financial sustainability within clubs, greater fans representation for fans and to also forestall breaking away from the leagues.
