L

Lord Markham (Con)

Speaking in the House of Lords on 15 January 2025

Debate

Football Governance Bill [HL]

Contribution

That is precisely the point of this debate. I think everyone agrees that the Premier League should be paying money over, no one more than the Premier League itself. The whole question is whether it needs a regulator to enforce a set number. As my noble friend Lady Brady said, the Premier League is more generous than other leagues. As my figures showed, the Premier League pays over 14%, which is almost three times the level that UEFA pays over in its version of solidarity payments. The real point of the debate is whether we really need a regulator to determine it. We have had a good debate on parachute payments. The noble Lord, Lord Bassam, made a particular point about Brighton and how it did not need them. It is a little known fact that that a job I never got, although I was through to the final round, was being CEO of Brighton many moons ago, when it was a Championship team and was pressing for the Premier League. I recall very well a conversation with Tony Bloom when he was interviewing me for that job. I still think he is a brilliant chair, and I cannot argue against Paul Barber, the CEO; given how good he is, I cannot deny that he chose the right candidate.

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