Fan-led Review and Football White Paper

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath Excerpts

Tuesday 21st February 2023 Lords Chamber

[Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay (Con)]

We are grateful to those who invest in football but we want to ensure that the money flows throughout the pyramid to encourage people to nurture talent, take up the game and play it to the best of their ability. The White Paper will set out some of the work that we are doing to take that forward, but we will be mindful of my noble friend’s points.

[Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Lab)]

My Lords, will the Government’s White Paper deal with issues such as the ownership of Birmingham City Football Club? It is owned by a company that is registered in the Cayman Islands and its shares are traded on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Its single largest ownership block appears to be a Mr Wang Yaohui, a fugitive from China who now resides as a Cambodian diplomat but whose name does not appear to have any substantial listing in the club at all. What are fans meant to do when we have this appalling ownership structure with no transparency?

[Lord Austin of Dudley (Non-Afl)]

Support Villa.

--- Later in debate ---

[Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Lab)]

So far, the football authorities have washed their hands of this.

[Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay (Con)]

The Government are fully aware of issues such as those raised by the noble Lord. Sadly, there are too many examples of why action is needed to reform football governance and make clubs sustainable in the long term. Through tougher tests for owners and directors, we intend to ensure that clubs have suitable custodians with suitable business plans. Later this week, the White Paper will set this out in more detail.