England’s Independent Football Regulator

Work began in 2024 on setting up the IFR in shadow form and, once the Football Governance Bill becomes law, the IFR is expected to begin its work from autumn 2025.

What is the IFR’s remit?

The IFR’s main objective is to ensure the financial stability and sustainability of English football, ensuring that clubs have sound corporate and financial governance in place. The 116 clubs in the top five tiers of English men’s professional football will be subject to its oversight, covering the Premier League, the Championship, and divisions one and two of the English Football League, and the National League. Safeguarding ‘the heritage of English football’ is also an objective.

One of the IFR’s first tasks is to consult widely and compile a ‘State of the Game’ report. This is expected in 2026, and should set out the main issues and challenges that the IFR considers that it needs to address within its remit.

The two principal tools the IFR will deploy in pursuit of its objectives will be a new licensing regime for clubs, and a new process to approve the appointment of a club’s owners and senior officers.

How is the IFR set up?

The IFR is run by its chair, CEO and board. Day to day work is carried out by the IFR’s officials, with major decisions taken by the board or its directors.

The IFR has an expert panel, whose role is to carry out reviews of IFR decisions if one is requested by a concerned club. The expert panel is also the arbitrator responsible for determining a settlement if the leagues are unable to reach an agreement on the distribution of broadcast revenue.

The IFR has considerable discretion in how it wishes to develop and enforce the new regulatory regime. The legislation contained in the Football Governance Bill provides only a framework with minimum requirements for the IFR to operate within. It is for the IFR to devise the detail of the standards that clubs must meet, through rules and guidance that it publishes.

The IFR, as its name suggests, is largely autonomous and independent in how it chooses to act. The leagues and clubs have no representatives on the board, but the IFR is required to consult them on certain matters, and must also engage with the views of fans. The Football Association (FA) has an observer on the board. The government has no power to direct the IFR to act, but it appoints the chair and the non-executive directors, and it may issue guidance which the IFR is required to have regard to.

The IFR is funded by an annual levy imposed on the 116 clubs, which it can set at different levels for different clubs.

Different requirements for different clubs

The IFR has a broad discretion to take account of the different circumstances of each club, reflecting the variety of the 116 clubs within its remit. For example, it can do this in setting the levy payable by each, the corporate governance standards expected, or the individual licence conditions that it may impose on a club. The requirements of proportionality and recognising the different circumstances of different clubs are baked into the regulatory principles that the IFR must follow. Consequently, the IFR’s approach to regulation is likely to vary significantly as between clubs in the Premier League and clubs in lower divisions.

Continuing role of the leagues as regulators

The IFR does not displace the role of the leagues and the FA in regulating and running English football outside the finance and governance of clubs. Even in relation to finance and governance, the leagues are entitled to impose additional obligations on clubs, providing they do not conflict with the minimum requirements set by the IFR.

The IFR and the leagues are each under duties to cooperate with and consult one another, as far as possible. This applies in particular when either is making or changing rules concerning the finance and governance of clubs.

The licensing regime for clubs

The licensing regime is the cornerstone of the IFR’s regulation of English football. Every club will need to hold a licence in order to be able to operate a team in any of the top five tiers of English men’s professional football. To obtain a licence, the club must satisfy the IFR that it meets its financial and corporate governance standards.

A club must first apply for a provisional operating licence, which can be valid for up to three years while it prepares an application for a full operating licence. Every club must meet the basic mandatory licence conditions as to financial resources and planning, corporate governance and fan consultation. In addition, the IFR may impose additional discretionary licence conditions on a particular club, requiring it to take further specific actions, if the IFR has concerns about the club’s financial resources or management.

The suitability test for club owners

If any licensed club changes ownership, the IFR must first approve the club’s new owner as a suitable person to run a club. The IFR applies the criteria of honesty, integrity and financial soundness when considering approvals, and is expected to issue guidance on the factors it considers relevant to these criteria.

The IFR also has the power to remove an existing owner of a club, if it comes into possession of information giving it grounds for concern. This may mean that fan groups seeking the removal of a current club owner may be able to prompt the IFR to consider if that owner does not meet its suitability requirements.

Similar requirements apply in relation to the appointment of certain senior officers within a club. The IFR will need to issue rules stating which senior posts the requirements apply to, but they are likely to include CEOs and chief finance officers as a minimum.

Enforcement powers

The IFR has strong powers to investigate and enforce compliance with its rules and decisions. It has five sanctions at its disposal that it can impose on a club:

• a censure statement;
• appointment of a person to assist in running a club;
• financial penalties of up to 10% of a club’s revenue;
• seeking a court injunction requiring compliance;
• suspension or revocation of a club’s operating licence, so that its team is withdrawn from the relevant league.

If a club is dissatisfied with an IFR decision, an internal review process is available in most cases. IFR decisions can also be appealed to the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT), but in most cases only on judicial review grounds. This generally means they will not be full appeals at which the CAT can make its own decision on the facts, but only appeals on the basis that there is some irrationality, illegality or procedural failing underlying the IFR’s decision.

As a public body, other functions of the IFR, such as its consultation procedures when developing new rules, may also be subject to challenges brought by way of judicial review in the Administrative Court.

IFR approval functions

The IFR also has a role in deciding whether or not to approve certain key decisions taken by football clubs. The four types of club decision identified in the legislation as requiring IFR approval are:

• joining a breakaway league;
• selling or relocating club’s home ground;
• going into administration;
• making ‘material’ changes to club crest or main home shirt colour.

IFR arbitration role in relation to broadcast revenue distribution

An arbitration process allows the IFR to intervene and impose a settlement if the Premier League and English Football League are unable to reach an agreement on the redistribution of a portion of the Premier League’s broadcast revenue to lower leagues. If the leagues cannot reach an agreement by negotiation and mediation, the IFR can appoint an expert panel, which can impose a settlement that it considers consistent with the IFR’s objectives to ensure the financial stability and sustainability of English football.