Premier League on brink of agreeing potential new rescue package for Football League

[ASFN Admin]

The Premier League is finally on the brink of agreeing a potential new rescue package for the Football League following an apparent breakthrough in the long-running saga. England's top tier club executives are discussing the terms on a call this morning, and an improved offer for the cash-strapped lower divisions could be agreed by this afternoon. EFL clubs initially asked for a £250 million package from the Premier League in September. They have since turned down various versions of an offer based on a £50m package of loans and grants for Leagues One and Two only. Oliver Dowden, the Culture Secretary, has repeatedly called on football to come to an agreement. In private meetings in recent weeks, Whitehall figures are understood to have pushed the league to improve its offer. One possible solution is that the package of £50m for League One and Two is handed over entirely as a grant, with a potential loan package for the Championship. An end to months of wrangling would round off a rare positive week of news across the sector in 2020. Crowds of 2,000 returned across sport for the first time since March on Wednesday night, and major events are stepping up plans to host capacity sell-outs next summer after the first coronavirus vaccine was approved for use. The bail-out sticking point for England's top tier is that the competition's smaller clubs do not want to hand competitive advantages to teams in the immediate league below. The likes of Brighton have said they would have needed to make redundancies to afford the initial EFL request. Executives at the Premier League's Paddington HQ have also indicated the Government should have done more to help the EFL in its £300m rescue package for other sports. However, ministers pointed to Premier League teams spending £1.2bn in the mid-pandemic summer transfer window as evidence that football can afford to solve its own problems. As well as lobbying the richest clubs to do more, the Government is also pressing ahead with its pre-election manifesto pledge of a fan-led review. Calls for an independent regulator have gathered pace following the Telegraph revelations on the 'Project Big Picture' plot to revolutionise the game. Amin mounting tensions between MPs and the game, Richard Masters, the top tier chief executive, and Rick Parry, the English Football League's chairman, were ordered by the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport committee last week to provide weekly updates until the saga is resolved. The letters were sent out to both competitions 24 hours after ministers announced a rescue package of loans across 11 sports, excluding the football elite. “We are losing patience," says Julian Knight, the committee's chairman. "Fans have waited a long time for a solution that would safeguard their clubs but all they can see is squabbling at the top of the game. Football and its followers deserve better." In response, the Premier League maintained its position that no clubs need to go out of business. In the Football League, meanwhile, Coventry City turned the tables on politicians by saying clubs have been "abandoned" by Government.

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