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Date: 21st June 2023
WEDNESDAY 21st JUNE 2023
FAN-LED REVIEW DEMANDS INDEPENDENT REGULATOR FOR SCOTTISH FOOTBALL
Supporters seek renewal and transformation of Scottish football
Stakeholders wants independent scrutiny of governance and finance
Game must be rebuilt from the grassroots, says ‘groundbreaking’ report
DESPITE some recent successes, football in Scotland “lacks an overall vision and a comprehensive and coherent set of values, principles, outcomes, and objectives to secure long-term success and consistency”, says a fan-led review of the game published by an alliance of key stakeholders in association with the Scottish Football Supporters’ Association.
The 64-page report, ‘Rebuilding Scottish Football’ contains a wide range of proposals for change, but focuses on the call for the establishment an Independent Regulator for Scottish Football, paralleling recent moves in England which have been overseen, with cross-party support, by the UK Parliament.
The task of a regulator would be to scrutinise governance, finance and transparency within the game independently of both the football authorities and the Scottish government, but with statutory backing where needed.
The call for public scrutiny will be unveiled at a lunchtime discussion meeting in Holyrood, and will be introduced by former professional footballer and Scottish First Minister Henry McLeish, who wrote a major two-part report on the game back in 2010.
The review also makes suggestions on many other key aspects of Scottish football – including distribution of resources, marketing, competition, grassroots development and public accessibility. But its focus is on independent scrutiny and a major role for all stakeholders, especially fans as the main paying customers, in the way the game is run.
“This groundbreaking, two-year review represents a fresh staging post and opportunity in considering the future of Scottish football,” says Henry McLeish. “We have been necessarily forthright in assessing the current overall state of the game, and we have sought to make proposals corresponding to the scale of the challenges we face – with the recommendation for an Independent Regulator for Scottish Football (IRSF) as the key positive forward-looking way of ensuring major changes in governance, accountability and transparency.”
“Our hope and intention is that the ‘Rebuilding Scottish Football’ paper and its strategic recommendations will help galvanise a movement for change across the land, and attract cross-party discussion and support as part of that process,” adds SFSA CEO Stuart Murphy. “Football makes a major contribution to the life, wellbeing and economy of Scotland. It is also in receipt of public money through a variety of channels. It is only appropriate that it is regulated in an open and transparent way. This is also the direction of travel in England. The conversation about regulation is also opening up across Europe, and we in Scotland have the opportunity to be at the forefront of that.”
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Tags: Fan Led Review, Hampden Park, Scotland, Scottish fans, Scottish football, Scottish Football Alliance, SFA, SFSA, SPFL