MP demands clubs name their owners

Football clubs should be forced to reveal their owners’ identities, as part of efforts to clean up the way the game is run, a Tory MP has said.

Damian Collins said clubs in England should also name creditors and agents who might hold a stake in players.

The MP for Folkestone and Hythe said the game’s authorities needed new powers to act if they were warned a club was about to go into administration.

Proposing his Football (Financial Transparency) Bill under the ten-minute rule motion, Mr Collins said too often players were being “trafficked” around the world by agents.

He said: “I believe we should be concerned when communities have to stand by powerless while their club is stripped of its assets and left drowning in a sea of debt it can never hope to repay.

“I believe we should be concerned when taxpayers lose millions in unpaid taxes when clubs go into administration, or local businesses are left out of pocket at the end and risk financial failure as a result.

“And we should be concerned when millions of pounds are passing in and out of this country to buy clubs and players and we cannot be sure of the origin or destination of the money.”