Last week David Kogan - Chair of the Independent Football Regulator (IFR) - addressed all 116 clubs which will come under the IFR jurisdiction.

After the meeting he sat down with Henry Winter for an in depth interview.

Among other things he said:

“One of the things in this job I’m learning is everybody believes that we have a remit in every conceivable area of football – meat pies, ticket prices, beer, whatever. We don’t.” What Kogan can do is demand clubs work more closely with their supporters. This week, the IFR will release details of fan engagement requirements for clubs. “They put enormous onus on clubs to work with fans in a very, very formal way of fans’ involvement in any number of issues within the club.”

“I had a cup of tea with Karren Brady a couple of weeks ago. Karren and I don’t necessarily agree about a Regulator, but Karren’s been extremely supportive of me being in this role, both in public in the House of Lords and in private. Richard Masters sent me a text, all of half an hour ago, saying, what a success today was. Why? Because the battle to stop us being created is over."

“We’re not there to declare that clubs can’t have debt,” Kogan continued. “We’re not there to declare clubs have to be profitable. What we have to be certain about is the long-term financial viability and security of those clubs, which is a different issue. Are they giving long-term commitment? What’s the three-year business plan? What’s the nature of where they see monies coming in? And what’s their risk assessment of their own businesses? But that doesn’t mean they can’t use debt.”

The full interview:

https://thefsa.org.uk/news/change-is-coming-says-independent-football-regulator/