⚽️ Unnamed "Leading" EPL Clubs Beg UK Government to Block Nation-State Ownership of League Teams

Good morning. We honestly expected the Friday of the first week of the international break to be quiet. Nope! Some sore loser Prem teams are trying to get the UK government to intervene on the issue of nation-state ownership of the league’s clubs! UEFA catches a law review warning shot regarding potential Financial Fair Play charges against Manchester City! Oh, the horror!

In the email today:  

First they bought Manchester City, and no one paid much attention because City was a mid-table Premier League team that was buried in United’s shadow.

Then they bought Newcastle United, and no one stopped it because the Magpies getting better was actually a good thing for the Prem.

But apparently that’s all the nation-state ownership that some of the league’s pre-eminent clubs are comfortable with, because they’ve asked the UK government to step in.

• Leading Premier League clubs have requested the UK government to prevent nation-states from owning English football teams.

• The government has confirmed the impending establishment of an independent football regulator, pending parliamentary approval.

• During the consultation process, some top-flight clubs individually lobbied the government on the issue of nation-state ownership, separate from any submissions made by the Prem.

• One of the key roles of the regulator will be assessing the suitability of prospective owners and directors, with support for an "ethics and integrity" component in the owners' and directors' test (ODT).

• The league did not address nation-state ownership in its ODT update, and there appears to be a divide between the league and some of its clubs, especially after the takeover of Newcastle United by Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund.

• The regulator's responsibilities include ensuring suitable owners, confirming appropriate financial resources for clubs, protecting fan interests, and authorizing approved competitions, with full independence and the power to enforce financial settlements.

Our take: Disclaimer: We have no inside information here and we are not reporting news. That disclaimer having been made…”that’s, that’s Arsenal’s music! And here comes Liverpool flying into the ring like a house afire! By gawd, here comes the entire Glazer family!” You don’t have to be very bright to know who’s behind this. We wish them no luck at all.

2) 💷 Law Review Article Warns UEFA to Leave Manchester City Alone

Manchester City and UEFA get along about as well as Taylor Swift and Scooter Braun. As with that famous feud, the root of the problem is money. It’s strange. UEFA didn’t care when Barcelona and Real Madrid and even Manchester United were skirting every financial rule in the books. City had some success, though, and UEFA started clutching pearls. The battle rages on, and a recent law review article warns of mutiny by member clubs if UEFA doesn’t back off.

• Manchester City has been charged with serious allegations by the Premier League, including financial misconduct spanning nearly a decade.

• The club strongly denies these allegations and is preparing to defend its position in an independent tribunal.

• Other clubs in the Prem are interested in further investigations against Manchester City.

• The timing of the league's allegations raised questions, as they were announced just before the British government was set to publish a White Paper on football governance reform.

• Dr. Gregory Ioannidis and Dr. Dan Plumley, writing in the International Sports Law Review, warned of potential threats to the autonomy of sports' self-regulation, regardless of the outcome of the dispute between City and the Premier league, and predicted that UEFA may face serious unrest among its member clubs, potentially reaching a point of mutiny.

Our take: Pep Guardiola was not reached for comment, but if he had been, his comment would probably have been something along the lines of “they hate us ‘cause they ain’t us.” Again, UEFA only seems upset with financial irregularities where Manchester City are involved. And this article has a point: UEFA really doesn’t want to get into the business of playing favorites or arbitrarily making rulings against clubs it doesn’t like. Any more than it already does, anyway.

3) ❌ of the Day: Anyone Have that Safelite Number?

We don’t want to lazy-shame anyone, but couldn’t Cairney just have parked a few hundred yards away from the practice ground? We are fairly certain he can afford paying for covered parking, and the extra walking wouldn’t exactly tax him physically. Just saying.

4) 📊 Poll: What Is Your Take on Nation-State Ownership of Prem Teams?

Have additional thoughts? Reply directly to this email to comment, and see if we include your response tomorrow.

Full disclosure: The author of today’s newsletter is CTID. Just win, baby.

5) 🔗 Link Roundup:

• 🔵 At least one Premier League star defender thinks Chelsea’s marquee signing Moises Caicedo is going to “take on the world.”

• 👀 United manager Erik ten Hag “ignored staff advice” with his decision to take Spurs’ defender Sergio Reguilon on loan.

• 🥅 Small sample size, naturally, but one early-season assessment of Prem keepers isn’t very kind to Arsenal’s Aaron Ramsdale.

• 🔴 United are keen to offload transfer flop Donny van de Beek.

• 🤣 Even we can’t believe that Guardiola is a contender for Manager of the Month after he spent two of the first four matches of the season laid up.

The newsletter today was written by Phil Keidel. Follow Phil on X @philkeidel.

Thanks for reading! Have a great weekend.