Premier League clubs receive new offer to share £900m across football pyramid | first division

Premier League clubs have been presented with a new offer to resolve the issue of financial redistribution across the football pyramid, as the culture secretary warned it was in football's interests to reach an agreement sooner. of the arrival of the proposed independent regulator.

In what was described as a subsequent meeting in London on Thursday, the league's chief executive, Richard Masters, shared with representatives of its 20 clubs a potential offer to the EFL that would share more than £900 million in increased funding across the pyramid for six years. No vote was taken: clubs will consider the proposal before a new meeting on March 11.

The unexpected announcement of a Premier League shareholders meeting had sparked speculation that the competition was focused on speeding up decision-making on an issue unresolved for more than two years. It turned out that there was no material progress.

As the clubs spoke, Lucy Frazer, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, repeated a repeated message about the independent regulator. She assured a meeting of industry figures that it would be added to the statutes during this parliament and that she would have the power to enforce a redistribution deal across the Premier League and EFL if necessary.

“We don't want this to be a problem for the regulator,” Frazer told the FT's Football Business Summit. “It is clear that football should solve football's problems. “It is in the interests of the Premier League and the EFL to reach an agreement, but it is clear that if they don't, the regulator will.”

Frazer did not discuss the precise powers the regulator might have to intervene, with the details of the possible backing being one of the areas of greatest uncertainty for clubs and organizers as they await the arrival of the football governance bill in parliament. Several figures in the game shared curiosity about the contents of the bill. UEFA's Andrea Traverso said “let's see how it develops” when asked about its possible effects on European football in general.

The Culture Secretary was asked if the legislation would be brought before parliament before the next election, to which she replied: “Yes.” The bill, she said, would arrive “very soon” and she insisted that “we will not stand still.” In the past year, since she became secretary of state, Frazer has overseen the publication of the white paper on football governance and carried out several rounds of consultation on the bill. However, so far, few in football know the precise details of what the bill will include.