World Soccer - UK (2022-01)

FROM THE

ASSISTANT

EDITOR

ENGLAND

Footballclubs

at“genuinerisk”

and“needto

beprotected”

A government-sanctioned,fan-led

review of English football hasmade 47

recommendationstoaddressconcerns

overgovernanceofthegame.

Thereview,whichwas chairedbyformer

SportsMinister TraceyCrouchMP, highlighted

theEuropeanSuper Leagueproposalas

evidenceofthe existentialthreatthatmany

inthe gamecurrentlyface.“Whilethatthreat

hasreceded– fornow – thedangersfacing

manyclubsacrossthecountryareveryreal,”

wrote Crouch.“Footballclubsarenotordinary

businesses.Theyplaya criticalsocial,civic

andculturalroleintheirlocalcommunities.”

Thekey recommendationsofthenow

fully-publishedreviewinclude:

• Theintroductionofa government-licensed
  IndependentRegulatorfor EnglishFootball
  (IREF)toregulatefinancesandownership.


• Establishingnewowners’ anddirectors’tests
  forclubstoensurethatonlygoodcustodians
  andqualifieddirectorscantakecharge.


• A stampduty-styletax on everyPremier
  Leaguetransferfee,toberedistributed
  amongthelowerleagues.


• Ensuringthatsupportersareproperly
  consultedbytheirclubsintaking key
  decisions,bymeansofa ShadowBoard.

Elsewhere,the reviewalsoaddressedthe

issueofParachutePayments,wherebyclubs

relegatedfromthePremierLeaguecontinue

toreceivemoneyin ordertohelpdealwiththe

Attheendof 2020 , votingfortheWorld Soccer

awardswas easy.BayernMunich,spearheaded

bythe prolificRobertLewandowski andexpertly

managedby HansiFlick,madevotinginthemen’s

categoriesstraightforward,asdidLyonandtheir

coach Jean-Luc Vasseurinthe women’scategories,

while ChelseastrikerPernilleHarder wonthe

inaugural Women’sPlayeroftheYearaward.

Thisyear, however, it wasa bitmorecomplicated

• at leastinthe men’sawards– with theChampions

League,CopaAmericaand European Championship

allthrowingup contenders

inthe mindsofourpanel.

Ultimately,voters felt that

Lewandowski’s extraordinary

goalscoringrecord made hima

worthywinner, aheadofdouble

EuropeanchampionJorginho,or

LionelMessi,whofinally ended

hislongwaitfor a major

international trophy.

We’ll letyoudiscoverthe rest

ofthe winnersyourselfbyturning to page 49. In

additiontothe players,managersand teamsofthe

year, we’vealsopickedoutthe Peopleof theYearfor

2021 , payingtributetotheindividualsthatmade

a mark on theworldof football acrossthisyear.

Finally,congratulationsto anotheraward winner,

JonathanWilson,whowas recentlynamed the

FootballSupportersAssociation’sWriter of theYear

forthethirdtime.TheawardrecognisedJonathan’s

statusasoneof European football’

mostauthoritative

observers,and we look

forwardto more of his

incisivecolumnsin

World Soccerin 20 22.

Jamie Evans,AssistantEditor

Attheend

of2020,voting

fortheWorld

Soccerawards

waseasy...this

year, however, it

wasa bitmore

complicated

Existentialthreat...BurywereexpelledfromtheFootball

League in 2 019 andplacedintoadministrationin 2020

THEWORLD THISMONTH