Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the financial transparency of football clubs.

The footballing authorities take financial management within their sport very seriously. The FA has introduced a club licensing system in the National League System covering the areas of legal; ownership and control; integrity; finance; and grounds and security of tenure. The Premier League and English Football League that take responsibility for these matters for clubs in their competition now require business cases and proof of funds from owners, and a range of other financial and ownership related disclosures.

However we are not complacent and we will continue to work with football to ensure that, as well as complying with the existing legal framework, there are regulations in place within the sport that support appropriate financial conduct.