This from Fair Game:
It looks like the Premier League’s deal for financial redistribution with the EFL may once again have hit a last-minute snag. At last count this is the sixth time we have been promised a deal only for it to falter at the final hurdle.
This time, as The Times reported this week, it seems that Premier League clubs are split on how much each of them should contribute.
Even then the deal on the table is not without its issues – the proportion on offer is far less than the 25% the EFL are after; parachute payments are maintained; the split between EFL divisions does not marry up to average attendances of those divisions; no money for the National League divisions; the abolition of FA Cup replays; no recognition of well-run clubs; a merit rake that encourages higher spending on players’ wages; and more games for Premier League Under-23 sides in the Football League Trophy.
Enough is enough. The Government has long-stated that the incoming IREF should have backstop powers to oversee football’s financial flow. It’s time the government ended this farce and made a cast-iron guarantee that the IREF will have those powers. In the meantime, we’d be more than happy to set a short-term deal!