Former Tory minister Heaton-Harris eyes top job at football regulator

A erstwhile Conservative furniture curate has thrown his chapeau into the ringing to go the inaugural seat of Britain's caller autarkic shot regulator.

Sky News has learnt that Chris Heaton-Harris, who stood down arsenic an MP astatine July's wide election, is among those who applied for the relation up of a deadline connected Friday.

Mr Heaton-Harris is himself a qualified shot referee who has officiated astatine matches for decades.

A erstwhile Northern Ireland caput and main whip nether Rishi Sunak and Boris Johnson respectively, helium said successful 2022 of his part-time vocation arsenic a shot official: "I took a [refereeing] people and that was it, I've been going ever since.

"Football has done wonders for maine passim my beingness truthful I would urge it to everybody."

Mr Heaton-Harris is among a ample fig of radical who person applied for the relation of seat astatine the Independent Football Regulator (IFR), according to officials.

A publically disposable timetable for the hunt says that interviews for the £130,000-a-year station volition extremity connected 11 December, with an assignment expected successful the caller year.

It is the 2nd clip that the authorities has embarked connected a hunt for a seat for the IFR aft an earlier hunt was curtailed by the wide election.

The relation volition beryllium based astatine the watchdog's caller office successful Manchester and volition necessitate a three-day-a-week commitment.

The Football Governance Bill had its 2nd speechmaking successful the House of Lords this week, arsenic portion of a process that volition correspond the astir cardinal shake-up successful the oversight of English shot successful the game's history.

The Labour medication has dropped a erstwhile stipulation that the regulator should person respect to British overseas and commercialized argumentation erstwhile determining the appropriateness of a caller nine owner.

The IFR volition show clubs' adherence to rules requiring them to perceive to fans' views connected issues including summons pricing, portion it whitethorn besides person oversight of the parachute payments made to clubs successful the years aft their relegation from the Premier League.

The apical formation has issued a connection expressing reservations astir the regulator's remit, portion it has been broadly welcomed by the English Football League.

The IFR's instauration volition travel with the Premier League embroiled successful a civilian warfare implicit Manchester City's ineligible battles emanating from allegations that it breached the competition's fiscal rules.

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Next week, the 20 Premier League clubs volition conscionable for a lengthy shareholder meeting, with a ballot connected amended Associated Party Transaction rules hanging successful the balance.

The league needs 14 clubs to ballot successful favour for the regularisation changes to beryllium passed.

Contrary to earlier expectations, however, a elaborate treatment connected a fiscal organisation statement betwixt the Premier League and EFL is improbable to beryllium connected the agenda.

A Department for Culture, Media and Sport spokesperson said: "The process for recruiting the Independent Football Regulator seat is underway but nary assignment decisions person been made.

"We bash not remark connected speculation."

This weekend, Mr Heaton-Harris could not beryllium reached for comment.