A proposal to ban state-controlled clubs from English football has been submitted in an amendment to the Football Governance Bill that will introduce an independent regulator for the sport.
The move, which would have to be agreed by parliament, would mean that Manchester City and Newcastle United would be forced to change their ownership in order to be granted a licence by the regulator.
Lord Bassam of Brighton, a Labour peer, has put forward the amendment to the legislation going through the House of Lords which would prevent professional English clubs being owned or controlled by sovereign wealth funds or government ministers from any country.
Newcastle are owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) while Manchester City’s owner Sheikh Mansour is the vice-president of
