Lord Mawhinney
Main Page: Lord Mawhinney (Conservative - Life peer)
Baroness Garden of Frognal
My Lords, I acknowledge the noble Lord’s long-standing commitment to football and his wide-ranging contributions to the sport. On the matters of governance, it is not for the Government to run football. We have been clear that we are looking to football to put its house in order and we would expect it to address governance and regulation issues internally before there is any question of government regulation. But on the broad gist of his remarks, yes, we would agree with that.
Lord Mawhinney
My Lords, I start by declaring an interest as deputy chairman of England’s 2018 bid and, secondly, as honorary president of the Football League. I have two questions for my noble friend. Does she accept on behalf of the Government that when an excess of money combines with a deficit in truthfulness, the main casualty is the integrity of competition, whether it is national or international football? Secondly, is it the Government’s view that the charges and issues raised by the Sunday Times and by the BBC “Panorama” programme remain on the table to be resolved?