Soccer-English football 'dangerously exposed' to financial risk, regulator finds

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Oct 13 (Reuters) - English soccer clubs are "dangerously exposed" to ⁠financial risk, the country's Independent Football Regulator said in a report released on Tuesday, after finding that 94% of ⁠clubs in the top five divisions were operating at a loss.

The IFR, established last year, proposed stronger cost ‌controls and contingency planning as part of a six-point plan to improve the financial sustainability of the English game.

Its draft State of the Game report, which will undergo an eight-week public consultation before a final version is published, found nearly two-thirds of English Football League and National League clubs were "technically insolvent" and increasingly dependent ​on cash injections from owners.

"While some of our clubs are among the richest and ⁠most competitive in the world, others are standing ⁠on the edge of financial disaster... A significant number of clubs have told us they would not survive if their owners ⁠walked ‌away," said IFR Chair David Kogan.

The regulator said clubs should manage financial risks more effectively and have contingency plans in place should owners withdraw their support.

Britain’s culture secretary, Lisa Nandy, said the findings painted a stark picture of club finances.

“Football fans ⁠for years have lived with the anxiety of knowing their club could be ​one bad owner or poor month away ‌from ruin," she said in a statement.

"This report doesn’t just validate that anxiety, it has blown the doors off ⁠the game with the ​most stark uncovering of the state of football club finances in England today."

PREMIER LEAGUE BACKS REPORT

The Premier League said it agreed with the report's preference for a "football-led solution to revenue distribution."

"As the report makes clear, new funding must go hand in hand with effective financial controls and wider reforms to ⁠strengthen clubs," the league said in a statement.

The Premier League is negotiating ​a new revenue-sharing deal with the English Football League.Media reports said that Premier League clubs have offered to provide £1.8 billion ($2.38 billion) over 10 years, in addition to existing funding, but the EFL has asked for £1 billion over five years.

"We believe the proposal we have made to ⁠the EFL, which was unanimously approved by Premier League clubs in July, meets the objectives the IFR has set out in its report," the Premier League added.

NO POLITICAL PRESSURE OVER MAN CITY CASE, KOGAN SAYS

Kogan said he had faced no political pressure since Manchester City were found guilty of serious breaches of the Premier League's financial rules by an independent commission.

City have appealed the decision and continue to ​maintain their innocence, saying the commission's opinion contains "clear material errors".

The IFR has the power to ⁠assess the suitability of club owners over financial wrongdoing, raising the possibility of scrutiny of City’s ownership if the club loses its appeal ​against the ruling.

"I (have) made it very clear … any form of political interference on the ‌way we operate is going to result in my resigning from ​this role," Kogan told reporters at Manchester's National Football Museum.

"Just to be crystal clear, we’ve come under absolutely no political pressure whatsoever on this or any other topic."

($1 = 0.7551 pounds)

(Reporting by Chiranjit Ojha in Purulia, IndiaEditing by Toby Davis)

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10 月 13 日（路透社）——英国独立足球监管机构周二发布的一份报告称，英国足球俱乐部面临“严重的财务风险”，报告发现，前五级别联赛中 94% 的俱乐部都在亏损运营。

去年成立的IFR提出了一项六点计划，旨在提高英格兰足球的财务可持续性，其中包括加强成本控制和制定应急计划。

其《比赛现状报告》草案（最终版本发布前将进行为期八周的公众咨询）发现，近三分之二的英格兰足球联赛和国家联赛俱乐部“技术上已经破产”，并且越来越依赖所有者的资金注入。

“虽然我们的一些俱乐部是世界上最富有、最具竞争力的俱乐部之一，但其他一些俱乐部却正处于财务崩溃的边缘……相当多的俱乐部告诉我们，如果他们的老板离开，他们将无法生存下去，”国际足球联合会主席大卫·科根说道。

监管机构表示，俱乐部应更有效地管理财务风险，并制定应急计划，以防所有者撤回支持。

英国文化大臣丽莎·南迪表示，调查结果描绘了俱乐部财务状况的严峻图景。

她在声明中说：“多年来，足球迷们一直生活在焦虑之中，他们知道自己支持的俱乐部可能因为一个糟糕的老板或一个月的糟糕表现而走向破产。”

“这份报告不仅证实了这种担忧，而且以最直白的方式揭露了当今英格兰足球俱乐部的财务状况，彻底颠覆了人们对足球界的认知。”

英超后卫报告

英超联赛表示，他们同意该报告提出的“以足球为主导的收入分配方案”的观点。

“正如报告明确指出的那样，新的资金必须与有效的财务控制和更广泛的改革齐头并进，以加强俱乐部，”该联盟在一份声明中表示。

英超联赛正在与英格兰足球联赛就新的收入分成协议进行谈判。媒体报道称，英超俱乐部已提出在现有资金之外，在未来10年内提供18亿英镑（23.8亿美元），但英格兰足球联赛要求在五年内提供10亿英镑。

英超联赛补充道：“我们相信，我们向英格兰足球联赛 (EFL) 提出的方案，已于 7 月获得英超俱乐部的一致批准，符合国际足球联合会 (IFR) 在其报告中提出的目标。”

科根称曼城案不存在政治压力

科根表示，自从曼城被独立委员会认定严重违反英超联赛财务规则以来，他没有面临任何政治压力。

市政府已对该决定提出上诉，并继续坚称自己无罪，称委员会的意见包含“明显的实质性错误”。

国际足球联合会（IFR）有权评估俱乐部老板在财务不当行为方面的适任性，如果曼城俱乐部对该裁决的上诉失败，则有可能对曼城的股权进行审查。

科根在曼彻斯特国家足球博物馆告诉记者：“我已经非常明确地表示……任何形式的政治干预我们的运作方式都将导致我辞去这一职务。”

“为了避免误解，我必须澄清，我们在这个问题或其他任何问题上，绝对没有受到任何政治压力。”

（1美元=0.7551英镑）

（Chiranjit Ojha 驻印度普鲁利亚报道，Toby Davis 编辑）

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