Football's new independent regulator will have up to 200 staff members.
Premier League clubs were left stunned after being briefed on the plans ahead of Thursday’s Government confirmation. Clubs were told the regulator will have between 150-200 staff members.
A source told Mirror Football: “It looks as though they are going to be creating a mini FA.”
There are also concerns that the Premier League clubs - rather than the Government - will have to foot the bill for the controversial new proposals. Also that the numbers being employed could even rise.
The Government declined to comment but it is understood the regulator will be “appropriately resourced” and have the correct expertise to carry out its functions, deliver on its objectives, and secure the future of the national game.
The finer details of the plan, such as the name and geographical location of the regulator, as well as staffing, are expected to follow quickly. The plan for a regulator was recommended by a fan-led review last year.
The aim is to protect the heritage of the game by preventing historic clubs from going out of business, giving fans a bigger input and introducing a new, far more stringent owners' and directors' test.
But Sports Minister Stuart Andrew has insisted state ownership of football clubs will be “a matter for the foreign office”, not for the regulator.
Leading human rights group FairSquare has criticised the White Paper for containing no mention of "arguably the biggest threat to the English game”. Manchester United could yet become the third English club to be owned or run by a state in Qatar,
But Andrew said: “We are not venturing into the area of foreign policies. This will very much be looking at the individuals who are wanting to buy clubs or who are running clubs. As part of the consultation there will be opportunities for people to raise those sorts of issues.
“As far as we’re concerned, the really important thing is that those individuals are subjected in the way that the other individuals will be by other regulators - the financial world for example - they have to pass those fit and proper tests but we also have to know where their sources of funding are covering from. Any issues around foreign policy would of course be a matter for the foreign office.”
