THE government must ban state ownership of clubs if the independent football regulator has to be mindful of foreign policy, reform group Fair Game has said.

Section 37 (2) of the Football Governance Bill, which has had its second reading in Parliament and has the creation of a regulator at its core, says the regulator must take into account government “trade and foreign policy objectives” when making decisions on the suitability of new and existing club owners and directors.

The Fair Game group sees the clause as a threat to the regulator being able to carry out its stated primary function of ensuring clubs are sustainable for their fans and communities.

“There is a need for clarity. On one hand the Bill explicitly champions financial sustainability, but then when it comes to who owns and runs our football clubs, which country the government is happy to do deals with must be taken into account,” Fair Game chief executive Niall Couper said.

“It makes our whole national game open to the whims of politicians. If the Bill is to achieve both its primary objective of financial sustainability and take into account foreign policy, there is no alternative but to ban state ownership of football clubs.”

A Fair Game position paper on the the regulator’s proposed owners’ and directors’ test says the provision could lead to the disqualification of owners from countries that have strained diplomatic relations with the British government while favouring owners from countries which enjoy good relations with Britain, such as Saudi Arabia.

It highlights the example of Chelsea, whose former owner Roman Abramovich had his assets frozen as part of sanctions imposed by the British government in March 2022. He was considered by the government to have connections to the Russian state, which had just launched its invasion of Ukraine.

The clause was highlighted separately by Premier League chief executive Richard Masters last week, who believes the government has “written a stronger role than anticipated for itself” in a variety of ways in the draft Bill.

Fair Game also believes the test should be strengthened from a human rights perspective to prevent “sportswashing” by ensuring the regulator is compliant with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.