Sport Industry Group

FTSIS 08: Triesman wants cash for all- 5 Nov 2008 00:00:00

Lord Triesman, independent chairman of The Football Association, challenged the Premier League to distribute more of its money to the rest of the game at the FT Sport Industry Summit in association with Honda F1 Racing’s earthdreams programme.

Speaking on the final panel session of the Summit, Triesman also called for a ban on transfers of players under 18 in order to encourage English players to come through the ranks.

Triesman said: ‘There needs to be a greater equality of resources available to the individual clubs, if you have huge disparities in resource you are going to have significant differences in the quality of the playing staff.’
It comes less than a month after the FA's independent chairman infuriated league chiefs by calling for a limit on club debts.

Triesman said that the league should increase its contribution to the Football League - currently £90m over three years.

‘The Premier League to its credit does distribute money but it is only a degree of equalisation. You could imagine greater solidarity payments between different parts of the system.

‘One of the things that concerns me a great deal is the financial frailty as you go further down the pyramid through many clubs which are absolutely integral to their towns.’

Triesman did accept it was income from the Champions League which led to the biggest differences in top-flight clubs' incomes, and also announced he was backing UEFA president Michel Platini's proposals to restrict movement of under-18 players across international boundaries.

‘We still don't bring enough young English players through to the top of the game,’ added Triesman. ‘I believe we do need to restrict the trading of under-18 players and their movement around.

‘If it can be accommodated in European law, it is well worth considering. Is it really okay for youngsters simply to be traded around the world. Is that desirable either for them or for clubs who could lose them too easily?’