West Ham chief snubbed over ‘alarming’ football regulator letter demand

The Government has rejected calls from West Ham chief Karren Brady to publish a letter from Uefa which warns that domestic clubs and the England team could be banned from the Champions League and Euros over interference from the incoming football regulator.

Speaking in the House of Lords, Conservative peer Baroness Brady described the correspondence sent by European football’s governing body to the Secretary of State as “alarming” and called for it to be made public.

But Labour frontbencher Baroness Twycross told Parliament it was a private letter and “there is no intention for it to be published”.

She insisted the Government would do nothing to risk the ability of English clubs or the national side to play in international competitions and urged peers “not to spread unwarranted alarm”.

The exchange came as the House of Lords continued their detailed scrutiny of the Football Governance Bill, which seeks to establish an independent regulator for the top five tiers of the men’s game.

Brady, the vice chairman of West Ham, said: “I will raise with the minister the alarming letter that Uefa sent the Secretary of State.

“In it, the warnings are spelled out very clearly, as are the concerns about ‘governance interference’ in football. It points out that it has very ‘specific rules’ that guard against state interference in order to ‘guarantee the autonomy of sport and fairness of sporting competition’.”

She said it stressed the need to protect the independence of the Football Association and added: “Uefa spells out that ‘the ultimate sanction would be excluding the federation from Uefa and teams from competition’.”

Lady Brady went on: “We should be careful not to empower this regulator without fully addressing the concerns of the international governing bodies in advance.”

She called for the letter to be made public so that “for every single peer and MP to be able to see it, read it and be aware of its nature and tone and of the consequences it spells out”.

Stressing the need for safeguards in the Bill, former chairman of the British Olympic Association Lord Moynihan said: “Why is this being raised? It is being raised because Uefa has already… raised specific concerns about the Government’s proposal to establish an independent football regulator, emphasising potential government interference in football governance.”

The Tory peer added: “Uefa warned that government interference could lead to the exclusion of English federations and clubs from European competitions, including the Champions League and the European Championships.”

Conservative former minister Lord Maude of Horsham pointed out the proposed regulator would be appointed by the Government and its powers drafted by ministers.

He warned: “This is a real issue. It is not scaremongering.”

He went on: “Uefa, which matters for these purposes, is not content at this stage that this jeopardy does not exist, so it has to be dealt with.”

Tory shadow sports minister Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay said: “Fifa, Uefa and the International Olympic Committee have clear rules regarding the autonomy of sports organisations and their independence from government control.

“Failing to adhere to these principles risks sanctions from these bodies, including the very serious sanctions that members have set out, such as the exclusion of national teams or clubs from international competitions.”

Responding, Lady Twycross said: “It behoves us all… not to spread unwarranted alarm and I hope it will be useful if I am able, in response to this debate, to reassure peers and fans that we do not believe that there is any risk from the Bill as it stands to our domestic teams playing in international competitions.”

She added: “There is no intention that the regulator will fall foul of Uefa’s, Fifa’s or the International Olympic Committee’s rules, or that the regulator will take any action that would lead to English club or international sides being unable to play in certain competitions, such as the European Championships.”

Pressed again by Lady Brady to publish the correspondence, Lady Twycross said: “It was a private letter from Uefa. There is no intention for it to be published.

“I assure members that this Government will not do anything to jeopardise the FA’s membership of Uefa or the participation of English teams in Uefa competitions.”

PA