I don’t even know how they would regulate it tbh .
This fit and proper person test and proof of funds model obviously is not fit for purpose .
Just look at Wigan – taken over and then not paying staff or player wages a few months later then getting points deducted ,which I am not sure is really a suitable punishment when it’s not changing people not getting paid or particularly punishing the owner .
I am not sure what the answer is .
As you say, the Owners’ & Directors’ Test is an absolute farce. You could be a discharged bankrupt, have been subject previously to a banning order preventing you from being a director of a company and have a list of spent convictions as long as your arm and you would still pass it. That’s how committed the FA are to cleaning up the game. The further down the pyramid you go, it’s a self certification exercise.
Of course it’s all too easy to point the finger at the FA, but outgoing owners and the board of directors at clubs have a massive part to play by ensuring their clubs don’t get passed on to crooks because that’s what good people and good custodians do. There is absolute no excuse if a club ends up in the wrong hands.
I would like to see club owners having to register a personal bond with League equivalent to perhaps 35%-50% of a club’s turnover. This will be held in trust and if required, used by the League if they ever need to step in to ensure creditors are paid. This upfront obstacle would put off a lot of the flash, no cash brigade and at the end of an owner’s tenure the bond would be refunded back to them.
