British MPs to probe Anfield civil war

The power struggle at Liverpool is to be focus of a new inquiry into football by MPs in England.

The All Party Parliamentary Football Group is to launch a new inquiry into English football and its governance, and the ownership crisis at Anfield is one of the areas it will target.

The club’s progress to the Champions League semi-finals has been overshadowed by a row between co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett.

Alan Keen MP, chair of the group, said: “This inquiry is not just because of Liverpool, but what has happened there makes it more important that it happens.

“The role of the owners there has raised significant public concerns and overshadowed achievements on the field.

“When we get a majority of owners who just come in for the money, why would they bother to pass money down to the grassroots? It will hit everybody from the top to the bottom.

“I care about the game as a whole and it’s critical Liverpool gets its management structure sorted out.”

The takeover of Liverpool by Hicks and Gillett has thrown the issue of foreign ownership into the spotlight.

Despite insisting they would not do so, the Americans tried to load the debt from the takeover on to the club and have since fallen out completely.

With the power split, the club is locked in a stalemate, with Hicks demanding the resignation of chief executive Rick Parry and Gillett insisting he must stay.

The MPs and peers will also examine whether the Premier League is too powerful.

Keen added: “Our inquiry is very broad and includes governance of the game and the Premier League’s growing influence over the FA.”

The group, who published a comprehensive report into the game four years ago, plan to produce their new report in the autumn.

The group’s last report recommended a radical re-distribution of football’s riches, coupled with tougher corporate governance standards throughout football.

Keen said there had been some improvements within the game since then but no, or slow, progress on the majority of their recommendations.

“Much of the game’s corporate governance structure is opaque, to say the least, and does not reflect the best examples of British business,” he added.

The group is inviting submissions on several areas of the game, including:

:: The relationships between the Premier League, the Football League and FA.

:: Disparities in the standards of governance between the Leagues.

:: The application of the ’fit and proper person’ test.

:: Dispute resolution between clubs.

:: The ability of existing governance structures to regulate the increasing demands of the game.

:: The ownership of English clubs.