New government rule changes could have big impact on Man City and Chelsea

Clubs will not face sporting sanctions from English football’s independent regulator, it has been reported.

A regulator system was brought in to force clubs to prove their business models are financially correct and that they have good corporate governance.

Back in February, a white paper envisaged that “the regulator would have the ability to recommend that leagues or the FA apply sporting sanctions, and would supply any evidence it has to assist in their investigation.”

Over the last few seasons, a lot has been made of Chelsea’s huge spending under new owners led by Todd Boehly.

Some fans have been calling for more investigation into the business side of clubs with a point deduction suggested as possible punishment.

However, it has now been confirmed by the government that the independent regulator will not be able to place sporting sanctions on clubs.

The government said: “To be clear, the regulator would not insist that the leagues take any action but could simply share information where it believes it could be useful for the leagues in monitoring and enforcing their own publicly available rules.

“The regulator will not be regulating matters relating to sporting integrity or competition.

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“This means it will not be able to apply sporting sanctions which directly affect sporting outcomes.

“The government believes that these sanctions are best left to the existing football authorities to enforce their own respective rules in relation to sporting competition and integrity.”

The regulator will be independent of existing bodies such as the Football Association and the Premier League.

In a bid to avoid overlaps, the government added: “The regulator may choose to delegate some of its functions and responsibilities where it has confidence in the industry's ability to deliver.”