Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay (Con)

My Lords, I will speak only briefly to Amendment 206 as it is quite simple. It seeks to prevent clubs which are relegated to a competition which is not regulated by the new independent football regulator being subject to the prohibitions of Clause 45. Currently, any club that is relegated will have to continue to abide by these rules for a period of 10 years. Clause 45 has a similar provision applying the rules in that clause to relegated clubs for five years. It seems unfair that a club that is relegated to a league or competition below the scope of the new regulatory regime should have to abide by the rules set out in the Bill for such a long period. Surely a fairer approach would be either to shorten the period or, as my amendment suggests, to remove it altogether. Clubs that no longer operate a team in a regulated league will, by virtue of their relegation, receive lower incomes and potentially lose players. The financial situation they face will not be commensurate with the duties placed on them by the Bill, and retaining these long time periods seems to render the principle of specifying competitions, as the Bill does elsewhere, less meaningful. Why specify certain competitions if clubs playing in leagues that are not specified would still be subject to duties in the Bill? I beg to move.