THE SFA and SPFL have been called to a Holyrood summit this week on the future of Scottish football.
Scottish Sports minister Maree Todd will host a round table on Wednesday, with the subject of independent scrutiny of the national game high on the agenda.
The UK government have revived plans for a new football regulator in England, by promising to reintroduce the Football Governance Bill.
The King’s Speech confirmed plans for an independent football regulator south of the border to ensure greater sustainability in the game and strengthen protections for fans.
Now fan groups, led by former First Minister Henry McLeish, believe Scottish football also needs regulation in some form after concerns were raised over corporate governance and the running of clubs such as Livingston, Inverness Caledonian Thistle, Edinburgh City and Dumbarton.
The SPFL and SFA will attend a Holyrood summit on Scottish football governance
Chief executive Ian Maxwell will represent the SFA at Holyrood this week
Scottish sports minister Maree Todd will host the Holyrood summit
SFA chief executive Ian Maxwell and SPFL counterpart Neil Doncaster will address the government round table, with Hampden’s governing bodies opposed to the idea of external regulation despite cross-party support in the Scottish parliament.
Maxwell addressed the issue during Holyrood’s health, social care and sport committee meeting in December, pointing to significant differences between the game in Scotland and England and claiming that the game north of the border had been ‘robust’ in dealing with financial issues.
Since then, however, Inverness and Edinburgh City have weathered serious financial issues and the Scottish Football Supporters’ Association (SFSA) argue that an acceptance of the need for independent scrutiny is the first step towards achieving transparency and accountability and protecting the game at large.
Researcher and writer Simon Barrow, who co-founded SFSA in 2015 and co-authored the Rebuilding Scottish Football report in 2023, said: ‘If Scottish football is to progress, build confidence in the paying public and attract the resources it needs, transparency and accountability is vital. That must mean a meaningful and measurable degree of independent scrutiny.
‘There are a number of forms this could take, ranging from an independent stakeholders’ board within the SFA-SPFL set-up to an external scrutiny panel looking specifically at governance, finance and conduct. An ombudsman would be another possible pathway.
Scottish football governance will be under the spotlight at Holyrood this week
Inverness Caledonian Thistle have been bought over by Seventy7 Ventures
‘A formal regulator, the route being pursued in England, would be the final stop on this journey. If those running the game in Scotland do not want that, they need to agree another way forward.
‘But the principle of independent scrutiny as a positive, constructive and trust-building way forward should surely be beyond dispute for a public-interest industry like our national game - which also receives public monies and a huge amount of money directly from the public itself.
‘Recently there have been moves towards appointing a governance officer at Hampden. This is a shift in the right direction but, without fully independent scrutiny, it will become yet another way of allowing the football authorities to mark their own homework. The time for that is over.
‘There have been numerous and serious problems in the Scottish game in recent years. Everyone knows that. But if the argument is that “all is now well”, why would one oppose the idea of that being confirmed independently? What better way could there be to restore much-needed confidence among the paying public and with potential investors?’