EY Partner to Lead New Football Regulator
Football Regulator’s Top Job: Monks Eyed for CEO Amidst Kogan Appointment Uncertainty
The race for the chief executive position at the new Independent Football Regulator (IFR) appears too be narrowing, with EY partner Simon Monks reportedly a leading candidate. Though, the formal appointment of the IFR’s chairman, David Kogan, remains in limbo due to an ongoing inquiry, casting a shadow over the crucial next steps in establishing the long-awaited football watchdog.
While it was unclear this weekend whether other candidates were vying with mr monks for the post, the IFR has already been set up on a ‘shadow’ basis. Martyn Henderson, former chief executive of the Sports Grounds Safety Authority, was appointed in December 2023 as interim chief operating officer of the football watchdog.
Mr Monks, an EY partner, is understood to have held talks with David Kogan, the government’s preferred choice for the watchdog’s chairmanship. Mr Kogan’s formal appointment has been delayed by an investigation sparked by his previous donations to Labor politicians. William Shawcross, the commissioner for public appointments, is investigating the process through which Mr Kogan was recruited to the role, and his report is expected in the coming weeks.Last month, Lisa Nandy, the culture secretary, informed MPs that she was delegating the final decision on Mr Kogan’s appointment to the sports minister. stuart Andrew, the shadow culture minister, stated at the time, “The public has a right to know whether this was a fair and impartial process, or yet another case of political patronage disguised as due diligence.” He added, “the decision to launch an inquiry is welcome [and] must include scrutiny of [Sir] Keir Starmer, his advisers, and whether any conflicts of interest were properly declared.”
If Mr Kogan’s appointment is ratified, the appointment of a chief executive would be a crucial step in paving the way for the most radical reforms to the supervision of English football in decades. The legislation includes a new licensing regime for clubs, measures to ensure greater fan engagement, and a backstop power allowing the IFR to impose a financial settlement on the Premier League in relation to distributions to English Football League clubs.Revisions to the Bill have seen a requirement for the IFR to take decisions about club takeovers in the context of the government’s foreign and trade policy removed.
Should Mr Monks secure the IFR chief executive’s post,ministers are likely to highlight his expertise as a regulator,arguing it will balance Mr Kogan’s decades of experience as a negotiator of sports media rights deals. Last year, Mr Kogan acted as the lead negotiator for the Women’s Super League and Championship on their latest five-year broadcasting deals with Sky and the BBC. His current roles include advising the chief executives of CNN and The New York times Company on talks with digital platforms regarding the growing influence of artificial intelligence on their industries.
The creation of the IFR was pledged by the last Conservative government in the wake of the furore over the failed European Super League project in 2021. Its establishment comes as the top tier of the professional game is gripped by internal conflict, with abu Dhabi-owned Manchester city at the center of a number of legal cases with the Premier League over the club’s financial affairs.The Premier League has also been keen to agree a long-delayed financial redistribution deal with the EFL before the regulator is formally launched, though tentative talks between representatives of both factions have so far failed to produce meaningful progress.
This weekend, EY declined to comment on Mr Monks’s behalf, while the Department for Culture, Media and Sport has been approached for comment.