Cost of football regulator double initial estimate

What the report says

BBC Sport Football reports that the annual cost of running English football’s Independent Football Regulator (IFR) has been put at £20.3m, roughly twice the level estimated before the legislation was finalised. The watchdog says the figure covers an £18.3m operating budget for a staff of about 100, plus £1m for possible legal costs and another £1m toward set-up expenses that will be repaid over 10 years.

According to the article, clubs in the top five tiers of the men’s game will start funding the regulator from next season. The IFR argues the levy is meant to be scaled to clubs’ ability to pay, with the biggest contributors expected to be Premier League sides involved in European competition or receiving parachute payments. It says most clubs would pay about 0.1% of annual revenue.

The BBC notes that the new estimate is well above a 2019 impact assessment, which suggested annual operating costs of between £8m and £10.2m over the first decade. IFR chief executive Richard Monks said that earlier figure no longer reflected the current financial situation or the scale of the task. The regulator also says its costs are lower than those of some other UK regulators and major football bodies. The issue matters because the IFR was created amid concern about financial instability in the English game; last week it said 94% of clubs were loss-making and more than 60% of EFL and National League clubs were technically insolvent.