Member

The regulator may determine that player value constitutes liquidity, but we must caution against always mandating this in legislation. Players are not liquid assets. They require willing buyers, can be sold only within certain windows and, as the noble Lord, Lord Addington, made clear, can get injured and lose their entire value overnight. While I appreciate the view of the noble Lord, Lord Moynihan of Chelsea, that insurance would cover this, it remains the case that the regulator is best placed to determine what may constitute a suitable buffer and when. If player valuations contribute to liquidity, as they already can within the Bill, the regulator will of course need to determine their value. However, it would be wholly inappropriate to mandate that clubs and competition organisers determine the methodology for working out players’ fair market value. This would need to be objective.