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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will take steps with the shadow Football Regulator to prevent English football clubs from joining breakaway leagues.

The Football Governance Bill will create a Regulator that will be able to prevent English clubs from joining a future breakaway competition, taking into account factors like sustainability, heritage, fairness and meritocracy.

The Regulator will be obliged to gather the views of fans and consult the FA before it prohibits a competition.

This approach is the most effective way of stopping unwanted competitions that do not adhere to the principles of how sport operates in this country, are not supported by fans, and that risk undermining the English football pyramid.

The Shadow Football Regulator is a transition team that is working in parallel with the passage of the Football Governance Bill to set up the Independent Football Regulator. It does not have powers to regulate or take forward the provisions in the Football Governance Bill until after Royal Assent.