The Sports Nexus

Report Into the Role and Regulation of Agents in Football

info@sportsnexus.co.uk — Sun, 13 Aug 2006 12:04:00 GMT

The independent sports pressure group 'The Sports Nexus' today publishes a report into the role and regulation of agents in football. Independently researched and written by two of the UK's most respected academics on English football, Professors Christine Oughton and Jonathan Michie, the report pulls no punches in outlining what the FA needs to do if it is to prevent unscrupulous agents ruining our national game.

This report outlines the main problems associated with agents while criticising FIFA, UEFA and the FA for a.) failing to properly regulate their role and b.) where there are regulations, failing to enforce them.

Following on from this the report goes on to offer 23 recommendations for regulatory reform. Of the 23, the single most important issue from which many of the problems surrounding agents emanates, is that agents are allowed to act for the club and the player resulting in a whole manner of tapping up, dirty tricks and double dealing. The report suggests that FIFA, UEFA and the FA should ensure that this practice is outlawed. The agent should act only for and be paid by, the player.

Once this regulation is in place the custodians of the game must ensure that it is backed up with the strictest enforcement laws.

The report points out that there are several parallels in the business world where regulation has been successful in stamping out similar practices.

Phillip Snape, Director of the Sports Nexus says 'This is an important report which clearly shows what needs to be done to effectively regulate the role of agents football. What is clear is that their regulation is quite straight forward. What is now required is courage from the FA and their masters to regulate this ugly practice and then the iron will to enforce it.'

Notes to editors:

This poll is strictly embargoed until 06.00 on Sunday 13th August 2006

The Sports Nexus is an independent sports pressure group. It is a privately funded non for profit organisation established to give critical analysis to the way sport is run in the UK.

Our Vision and Purpose
To be the independent voice which challenges the structures, practices and accountability of British sporting institutions.

To influence all levels of government to:

# re-establish sport as an essential component of the education system.

# recognise the true value of sport to enhance the health and welfare of British citizens

For further information please go to www.sportsnexus.co.uk or call Phillip Snape on 07801 624 982

England Fans Reject Scolari as Football Manager

info@sportsnexus.co.uk — Fri, 28 Apr 2006 11:06:00 GMT

The independent sports pressure group 'The Sports Nexus' in association with Guardian Newspapers today publish a YouGov poll of English football fans to find out who they want to be the next England Manager.

The results clearly show a rejection of 'Big Phil' Scolari to take up the position despite a reported offer from the FA for the role. Only 9% of all fans who were asked felt that he was the right man for the job.

Heading the poll was Martin O'Neill with 23% with Sam Alladice the front runner of the English candidates with 15% of the vote.

The poll also emphasises the difficult task facing the FA as none of the candidates proved to be a clear favourite with the fans.

Despite this, 56% of all fans replied that the FA have handled the appointment 'Not well, or not very well at all'.

Phil Snape, Director of the Sports Nexus said today:

'The fans clearly do not share the FA's admiration for Scolari and have opted for candidates with a greater knowledge of the English game.'

'The FA should be careful what they wish for, if Scolari is prepared to do a deal with them on the eve of the World Cup while working for Portugal, how can we trust the man not to do the same to England four years from now?'

'Typically, the FA have handled this appointment appallingly. Their recruitment procedure has been a disaster from start to finish as they have lurched from one candidate to the next. Brian Barwick is the Chief Executive, he should start acting like one'.

Phillip Snape

Director of The Sports Nexus

07801 624 982

Notes to editors:

This poll is strictly embargoed until 06.00 on Friday 28th April 2006

The Sports Nexus is an independent sports pressure group. It is a privately funded non for profit organisation established to give critical analysis to the way sport is run in the UK.

Our Vision and Purpose
To be the independent voice which challenges the structures, practices and accountability of British sporting institutions.

To influence all levels of government to:

# re-establish sport as an essential component of the education system.

# recognise the true value of sport to enhance the health and welfare of British citizens

For further information please go to www.sportsnexus.co.uk or call Phillip Snape on 07801 624 982

Burns Report Fails to Address the Problems of the FA

info@sportsnexus.co.uk — Sat, 13 Aug 2005 06:00:00 GMT

One would have thought, after months of work on an organisation which has been failing for decades to do its job, today's findings by Lord Burns would offer some straightforward solutions to make the FA a more effective organisation.

On the contrary, overall Lord Burns has chosen to ignore many of the proven practices of similar sized businesses and organisations and instead offers a structure which if implemented has the potential to hinder not enhance the decision making process.

Please see below a brief summary of our reaction to the report:

We welcome the introduction of independent non-executive directors to the Board which was a key proposal of the Football Governance Research Centre’s State of the Game Report published in 2004. We also welcome the creation of a semi-autonomous Regulation and Compliance Unit. However, we feel that the proposals do not do enough to ensure that the FA meets the same standards of corporate governance that one would expect in other sectors. In our view:

The proposed new Board is too large and goes against the recommendation of the Higg’s Review (2003, p. 22)[1] which concluded that ‘An effective board should not be too large as to become unwieldy.’ Our report, The FA: Fit for Purpose? is consistent with the Higg’s guidance and argues that the FA Board should be reduced to 8.
Lord Burns’ report proposes increasing the size of Council but taking away its powers by transferring much of its strategic role to the Board. While we agree that Council is not at present an effective strategic body, as it is too large, we advocate strengthening Council by reducing its size so that it can play an effective strategic role. Again, there is best practice guidance that can drawn on the size of Council that appears to have been ignored.
While Lord Burns advocates making the Council more representative, the transfer of strategic powers from the Council to the Board means that supporters, players, referees, managers, the Football Conference, etc will now have a place on Council only to see the powers of Council severely curtailed. In contrast, our report recommends that Council be more representative and that it be reformed to make it an effective strategic body.
The FA has a two-tier governance structure (with a Council and a Board). There is dedicated code of corporate governance that sets out best practice for two-tier systems which are commonly used by world class businesses on the continent and by trade associations and governing bodies. Two-tier structures are ideal where there is a need to involve stakeholders, as is the case with the FA. Thus there is well-researched guidance on how strategic powers should be shared between the 2 tiers, the appropriate size of the two tiers, what information should be passed between the 2 tiers etc. This best practice does not appear to have been incorporated into Lord Burns' review.
There are major issues of governance that are not covered. For example, there appears to be no proposal that the proposed Regulation and Compliance Unit should introduce and monitor a Code of Corporate Governance for its clubs, or that it introduce and monitor a properly rigorous ‘fit and proper person’ test. Both of these are recommendations of the 1999 Football Task Force report and our own The FA: Fit for Purpose? report.

[1] The Higgs Review reported that the average size of Board for listed companies was 7, comprising 3 executive directors, 3 non-executive directors and a Chair.

Overall, The Sports Nexus are extremely disappointed by the findings of this report. We had hoped that the findings would give the FA a big opportunity to bring itself into the 21st Century. Instead it has been advised to adopt a system that is totally ineffective and will do little more that continue the status quo.

Phillip Snape
Director of the Sports Nexus

Notes to editors:

This poll is strictly embargoed until 06.00 on Sunday 31st July 2005

The Sports Nexus is an independent sports pressure group. It is a privately funded non for profit organisation established to give critical analysis to the way sport is run in the UK.

Our Vision and Purpose
To be the independent voice which challenges the structures, practices and accountability of British sporting institutions.

To influence all levels of government to:

# re-establish sport as an essential component of the education system.

# recognise the true value of sport to enhance the health and welfare of British citizens

For further information please go to www.sportsnexus.co.uk or call Phillip Snape on 07801 624 982

Predictability of Premiership football at an all time high.

info@sportsnexus.co.uk — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 17:01:00 GMT

Last year, The Sports Nexus released a study into competitive balance and predictability in the Premiership. The contents proved that since the Premiership began - due to the disproportionate distribution of income derived from TV rights - the league has become increasing predictable and less competitive year on year.

In response, The Sports Nexus called on the Premiership to halt this trend and offered several solutions as to how this issue could be resolved which would be acceptable to the businesses behind the clubs.

Sadly, despite being scientifically robust and widely publicised both in this country and around the world the document was not deemed worthy of a response by either the Football Association or The Premier League.

Since this time, The Sports Nexus has, with the help of Professors Christine Oughton and Jonathan Mitchie of Birkbeck University, once again tracked predictability in the Premiership over the last season.

Disappointingly, we see predictability for the 2004/2005 season increasing yet further to an all time high (see attached). This at a time when attendances have fallen for the first time.

The Sports Nexus today calls on both Brian Barwick and Richard Scudamore to take seriously the threat of increasing predictability within the game.

Football is a sport. The outcome must not be known at the start of the game. Yet increasingly this is no longer the case. This trend shows no sign of abating.

The Sports Nexus asks, 'Mr Barwick and Mr Scudamore, you are the only people who can reverse this trend. At what point do you draw the line say 'enough is enough?'. At the current rate, the financial dominance of rich clubs over poor is set to destroy football in England as it has in Scotland. It is essential that this issue is addressed before its too late.

Phillip Snape
Director of the Sports Nexus

Notes to editors:

This poll is strictly embargoed until 06.00 on Sunday 31st July 2005

The Sports Nexus is an independent sports pressure group. It is a privately funded non for profit organisation established to give critical analysis to the way sport is run in the UK.

Our Vision and Purpose
To be the independent voice which challenges the structures, practices and accountability of British sporting institutions.

To influence all levels of government to:

# re-establish sport as an essential component of the education system.

# recognise the true value of sport to enhance the health and welfare of British citizens

For further information please go to www.sportsnexus.co.uk or call Phillip Snape on 07801 624 982

Report and National YouGov Poll into the Football Association

info@sportsnexus.co.uk — Sat, 16 Jul 2005 12:25:00 GMT

The independent sports pressure group, The Sports Nexus, today publishes an analysis of the Football Association.

Written by Professors Jonathan Mitchie and Christine Oughton of Birkbeck University, this document is the culmination of a four month study into the FA, to discover why it constantly fails in its duty to stand up for the
national game and suggests a major restructuring of the organisation on business lines.

Highlights of the document include:

a).. A look at the failings of the Burns Review

b).. A list of 20 of the FA's worst decisions with particular attention paid to Malcolm Glazer

c).. Detailed analysis as to why this occurs which includes:Lack of leadership, poor governance, board structure, over sized council, poor committee structure, out dated training and research methods and anachronistic corporate governance practices.
(also included is support for Mourinio's argument this week that a board member of a Premiership football club should not be allowed to be a board member of the FA)

To remedy the current status quo the report details major restructuring of the FA which brings it up to date with current business practices.

The Sports Nexus today calls on the FA to take these findings seriously. Time and again the FA has been told to modernise. Time and again it has dismissed such calls with sometimes tragic consequences. The FA is a crucial
point in its existence. It either modernises and claims back its prominent position as guardian of the national game, or continues on its current path, powerless, impotent and the poodle of big business.

Sports Nexus/YouGov poll of English football fans

Our views are backed up by the people who matter most, the fans, by way of a Sports Nexus/YouGov poll which was taken earlier this week.

Highlights of the poll include:

When vital decisions have to be made about the future of the game, 62% of all football fans said they where either not very confident or not confident at all in the FA's ability to make the right decision.

In answer to this 63% feel that the FA requires major changes in it structure and practices if it is to operate effectively to protect the national game.

So, the poll shows that the FA fails in its duty to work in the interests of the national game. Now is the time to act!

Phillip Snape
Director of the Sports Nexus

Notes to editors:

This poll is strictly embargoed until 06.00 on Sunday 17rd July 2005

The Sports Nexus is an independent sports pressure group. It is a privately funded non for profit organisation established to give critical analysis to the way sport is run in the UK.

Our Vision and Purpose
To be the independent voice which challenges the structures, practices and accountability of British sporting institutions.

To influence all levels of government to:

# re-establish sport as an essential component of the education system.

# recognise the true value of sport to enhance the health and welfare of British citizens

For further information please go to www.sportsnexus.co.uk or call Phillip Snape on 07801 624 982

Sports Nexus/YouGov poll on the Lawn Tennis Association

info@sportsnexus.co.uk — Sat, 02 Jul 2005 11:52:00 GMT

The independent sports pressure group, The Sports Nexus, today publishes a major poll of the British public to find out their views on the image of UK tennis and the effectiveness of its governing body, the Lawn Tennis Association.

Overall, the picture painted by this poll - partly taken at over the period when Andrew Murray was still in the Wimbledon tournament - is shocking and should be seen as a rude awakening to the LTA.

The poll shows that the public are well aware of the LTA's total failure to produce world champions and to promote the game at grass roots level. The vast majority stating that they have little or no confidence in its ability to work for the good of tennis.

The LTA has for far too long operated as a private club, anxious to protect 'their' game from undesirables.

British sports fans understand that tennis is now a global game which spans all class and race divides. Yet the organisation which leads it operates in a bygone era when men still played in long trousers.

The Sports Nexus calls on the LTA to wake up to the reality of the state of British tennis. Learn from other countries and reach out to the many thousands of talented young UK sports people and make them feel at home on the tennis court.

Highlights of the poll include:

When asked how confident they are that the LTA are using their money effectively to encourage grassroots tennis:

Only 1% of tennis fans said that they were 'very confident'
53% of tennis fans are either 'not very' or 'not confident at all'

When asked how confident they are in the LTA to produce world class
tennis players:

Only 2% of tennis fans said that they are very confident
73% of tennis fans are either 'not very' or 'not confident at all'

When asked to sum up the image of tennis:

43% of all tennis fans said it lacks a wider appeal

While of sports fans in general:
19% said that tennis is a '2 week garden party frequented by toffs
11% agreed that tennis appeals only to middle aged, middle class white people

Overall 64% of all sports fans feel that tennis lacks a wider appeal

Phillip Snape
Director of the Sports Nexus

Notes to editors:

This poll is strictly embargoed until 06.00 on Sunday 3rd July 2005

The Sports Nexus is an independent sports pressure group. It is a privately funded non for profit organisation established to give critical analysis to the way sport is run in the UK.

Our Vision and Purpose
To be the independent voice which challenges the structures, practices and accountability of British sporting institutions.

To influence all levels of government to:

# re-establish sport as an essential component of the education system.

# recognise the true value of sport to enhance the health and welfare of British citizens

For further information please go to www.sportsnexus.co.uk or call Phillip Snape on 07801 624 982

YouGov poll and critical analysis of the ECB's new strategic plan for 2005 -2009

info@sportsnexus.co.uk — Mon, 30 May 2005 12:28:00 GMT

In conjunction with the Annual General Meeting of the ECB on 31st May 2005, The Sports Nexus has today published a detailed critical analysis of the ECB's strategic plan for 2005 -2009.

In support of this we also publish a YouGov/Sports Nexus poll based on this issue.

Within the report the Sports Nexus applauds many of the ECB's findings, much of which are similar to the Sports Nexus' own recommendations in a document published in 2004.

However, there are other areas of concern, such as:

# While we applaud the ECB's decision to provide performance related allocations to the Counties, the proposals simply do not go far enough. Why is only 25% of the overall grant performance related? Why does it not take into account the performance of the County rather than individual players? The ECB should grasp the nettle and incentivise the entire grant to each County.
# While the ECB's proposals will help to solve the 'Kolpak problem', there is no mention of reducing the number of foreign players per side to one. This is not good enough. Foreign players add a great deal to the domestic arena. However, every extra overseas county player supplants a potential new national team member.
# Reviewing the management structure of the ECB is long overdue. However, for the new arrangements to work, proficient and commercially aware individuals need to be in charge. If those same First Class Forum faces reappear at top table, the same culture of stasis and self-interest will apply.
# We are disappointed that 2nd XI teams will still be eating up valuable resources while producing questionable benefits.
# Furthermore, we are disappointed that the idea of making the senior England coach the sole England selector has not been discussed.

Despite the criticisms above the strategic plan is not without merit. However, with the ECB's long history of failure it remains to be seen whether they are capable of carrying out these proposals.

Our concern is based around the continued myopia present within the ECB which is responsible for some quite disgraceful decisions.

For example, the ECB have in their new strategic plan an idea to broaden the appeal of cricket and also to make our top players more recognisable. This at a time when we have the best team for a generation and the Ashes just around the corner.
With this opportunity to hand the ECB decided that it is nevertheless in the best interests of the game to sell the TV rights to the highest bidder and in doing stop the vast majority of the country having access to the game. Quite astonishing!

Come the Ashes Andrew Flintoff will be able to walk the streets virtually unnoticed. Can you imagine that of Ian Botham in 1981?

On this basis the Sports Nexus commissioned an independent poll, via YouGov, to see what the cricketing public feel about the selling off of the TV rights to Sky and how confident they are in the ECB and their new proposals. The findings of which give interesting reading (see attached)

For example: 68% of English cricket fans feel that the decision to sell off the TV cricket rights to Sky was bad for the game.

Notes to editors:

This press release is strictly embargoed until 06:00 Tuesday 31st May

The Sports Nexus is an independent sports pressure group. It is a privately funded non for profit organisation established to give critical analysis to the way sport is run in the UK.

Our Vision and Purpose

To be the independent voice which challenges the structures, practices and accountability of British sporting institutions.

To influence all levels of government to:

• re-establish sport as an essential component of the education system.

• recognise the true value of sport to enhance the health and welfare of British citizens

For more information call Phillip Snape on 07801 624 982

ECB sells out the future of English cricket to SKY

info@sportsnexus.co.uk — Wed, 15 Dec 2004 13:06:00 GMT

Today, the Chairman of the ECB, David Morgan, has signed away the future of English cricket by handing over almost all the game's TV rights to Sky television.

This decision is an utter disgrace.

Cricket desperately needs to increase its profile. Now is the perfect opportunity having produced our first, world class team in nearly 20 years.

In response to this opportunity the ECB has decided to virtually wipe out all cricket coverage from terrestrial television leaving the majority of the population with no access to watching the national side other than in pubs.

Consistent with so many decisions taken by the ECB, this action is spectacularly short sighted.

Are the ECB incapable of understanding that unless people see and therefore become interested in cricket, there will be no game to spend the extra cash on?

We have a glorious opportunity to re-establish the popularity of English cricket after years of decline. It is breathtaking that the custodians of the game, the ECB, led by its Chairman, David Morgan, have ensured that such resurgence will not take place.

Instead, the entire future of the game has been sold out to the highest bidder.

In September of this year the Sports Nexus published an extensive six month study into the game and its future. This report was issued to all of the games administrators including County Chairmen, members of the ECB etc from which we have received little acknowledgement or reply.

One such administrator is the Chairman of Somerset Giles Clarke, who is also responsible for negotiating media rights on behalf of the ECB. Yet Mr Clarke has been quoted in The Wisden Cricketer as saying of The Sports Nexus:

"Who are these people? I've never heard of them, they've never asked me or anybody else in the game what we think or how they could help. I and a few other county chairmen are well known to the City. Are these people? If I saw them I'd tell them to get lost".

This is typical of the type of people who administer the game. His reaction is synonymous with the cancer inside the ECB which resists change at every opportunity and fails at all levels to acknowledge the current state of English cricket, and the essential need for change.

Disappointingly, Mr Clarke and the ECB have no thought for the people who really matter, the fans. Today’s decision to sell out English cricket is nothing short of a death warrant for the future of the game. As ever it is a decision taken with no thought for the long term future of the game for which the ECB appears completely unaccountable.

Jonathan Marland
Chairman of the Sports Nexus

Notes to editors:

For more information on the above press release please call Phil Snape on 07801 624 982

The Sports Nexus is an entirely independent, non for profit sports pressure group. For more information please go to www.sportsnexus.co.uk

Sport England backs Sports Nexus report on cricket

info@sportsnexus.co.uk — Tue, 21 Sep 2004 13:06:00 GMT

Today the independent sports pressure group, The Sports Nexus, presented its findings following a six month study into English cricket (for full details of the report please go to www.sportsnexus.co.uk). This was in response to the failure of the ECB to a demand from Sport England that they reform their organisation..

Sport England today issued a statement backing the work of the Sports Nexus and stated that was considering withdrawing funding from the ECB (see below).

And its not just Sport England who feel that the ECB is failing in its duty. Such is the lack of confidence in the game's governing body amongst cricket fans that a recent YouGov/Sports Nexus poll (for full details please go to www.sportsnexus.co.uk) taken of the nation's cricket fans shows that the cricketing public feel that there is much room for improvement in the halls of the ECB and little confidence for the future.

Highlights of the poll show that:

· 47 percent feel that the ECB should be given only little or no credit at all for the England team's current run of success.
· Only 6 percent feel that the current success will last more that 6 years. In other words the cricketing public have no confidence that the current crop of world class players will be replaced when they retire.
· Only 4 percent are very satisfied with the way the ECB runs the game.
· 53 percent are either fairly or very dissatisfied in the structure and support given to grass roots cricket .
· Only 4 percent are very satisfied with structure and organisation of the county game.

In response to today's report Sport England released the following statement:

Sport England considers future funding of ECB

16 September 2004

Welcoming The Sports Nexus Report on English Cricket published today, Sport England, the strategic lead for sport in England, announced that future funding will need to be considered, if the governance of English Cricket does not embrace reform.

Sport England has invested significantly in cricket over the years and sees the development of cricket from grassroots to elite as critical to achieving increased national participation and international success.

Commenting on the Report, Roger Draper, Chief Executive of Sport England, said:

“Sport England recognises the importance of cricket to English sport. We are concerned that the governance of the ECB may threaten the future growth and success of this sport. We may have to consider future funding if significant changes are not made before cricket’s four-year business plan is submitted in November.”

Sport England will, in the meantime, continue to fund Team England and the National Cricket Academy, both of which are great successes. Sport England particularly congratulates Team England’s rise to no 2 in the world.

Sport England has become increasingly concerned by the governance of English Cricket and has endeavoured to work with all parties to modernise this sport. The approach to the ECB has been inclusive, charting a course of reform from within. Sport England has worked with all key partners including the ECB, the MCC, cricket sponsors and broadcast partners.

Sport England is also undertaking reform into the following sports: golf, bowls, karate, boxing, hockey and athletics. Working with Sport England, rugby league has been successfully reformed this year.

For further information please go to www.sportsnexus.co.uk or contact Phil Snape on 07801 624 982

English Cricket in financial crisis. Nasser Hussain backs Sports Nexus report into the game.

info@sportsnexus.co.uk — Thu, 16 Sep 2004 13:08:00 GMT

For the English Cricket Board to be eligible for a renewal of their grant worth almost £20m over three years, Sport England has stressed the need for a major reorganisation of the game. At present this has not been achieved.

If the ECB continues in its refusal or inability to reform, the indications are that they will not to meet Sport England's requirements, leaving the game facing its worst financial crisis in modern times.

As the ECB have continually failed to address these issues, the independent sports pressure group, The Sports Nexus, has undertaken an extensive six month study into many of the games major problems and created a range of modern, forward thinking solutions.

The Sports Nexus hope that these ideas will be incorporated into the game.

This report will be presented at a press reception on Thursday 16th September, 12.30, The Cricketers Club, 71, Blandford Street, London NW1.

Also being presented at the event will be a recent YouGov poll which reveals what the nation's cricket fans feel about how the game is run at all levels and what the future holds.

The Sports Nexus has already received wide support for the study including the backing of ex-England captain Nasser Hussain who notes,

'I warmly welcome the study of English cricket by The Sports Nexus. It is a thorough investigation into the major problems facing our game at a critical time in its history.

The solutions presented show clear modern thinking in terms of the game's administration, funding and presentation. If addressed, these ideas could have a large impact in improving the game at all levels and ensure the status of cricket as England's No 1 summer sport.'

Notes to editors:

This report is embargoed until 06:00 on Thursday 16th September 2004.

The Sports Nexus is an independent sports pressure group, the aim of which is:

‘To be the independent voice which challenges the structures, practices and accountability of British sporting institutions’.

For further information please go to www.sportsnexus.co.uk or call Phillip on 07801 624 982