Football is bracing itself for incoming Prime Minister Liz Truss to veto the game’s fan-led review.
Truss is expected to be confirmed as Boris Johnson ’s successor next week, beating her rival Rishi Sunak. The fan-led review, a blueprint for football’s future, was released at the back end of last year and proposed ways in which the English football pyramid could become more sustainable.
But Mirror Sport understands that although Truss has previously indicated she will back the 47 recommendations, she is surrounded by influential figures with little or no appetite to change the existing structure or to bring in an independent regulator.
It will deepen fears that EFL and non-league clubs could be “pushed over the edge” by the cost-of-living crisis.
Also that the recommendations - which include a new fit and proper persons test, mandatory diversity and inclusion plans for all clubs and fan consultation on all key off-field decisions through a 'shadow board’ - will bite the dust.
Plans for a new transfer levy of up to 10percent on Premier League deals were one of the key recommendations of the fan-led review chaired by Conservative MP Tracey Crouch.
With around £2billion spent by Premier League clubs it would have been a timely boost for clubs worried about cost-of-living crisis and how to deal with spiralling energy bills.
But there had already been opposition from some Premier League executives and an expectation that it would be left out of the Government’s White Paper, due out in early October.
Now there is a firm belief that Truss will axe the white paper altogether.
It comes with EFL clubs already looking at how to cut energy costs.
Consideration is being given to trying to agree collective deals with suppliers, and to weighing up whether to request permission to play EFL Trophy matches in the daytime or kick off Saturday 3pm matches earlier.
It is understood Championship clubs earned £140million from the summer’s Premier League transfer spending.
An existing levy of four per cent on transfers helps support the academy system and footballers’ pensions.
The Premier League is currently committed to providing £1.6billion in funding outside the top flight over the next three seasons.
