The first chair of the parliamentary watchdog established after the MPs expenses scandal is in the frame to become the inaugural head of English football’s new regulator.
Sky News has learnt that Professor Sir Ian Kennedy, who chaired the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) between 2009 and 2016, is among a small number of candidates being considered in Whitehall to chair the Independent Football Regulator (IFR).
Professor Sir Ian, who is in his 80s and has led a string of public inquiries and government-commissioned reviews, is emeritus professor of health law, ethics and policy at University College London.
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Government insiders said he had been shortlisted because of his lengthy credentials as a regulator.
Last month, Sky News revealed that Christian Purslow, the former chief executive of Aston Villa and Liverpool football clubs, and Sanjay Bhandari, who chairs the football anti-racism charity Kick It Out, are also in the frame for the Manchester-based position.
In recent weeks, there have been suggestions in media reports that Sir Keir Starmer is preparing to pare back the powers of the new football regulator amid a broader curtailment of regulation as a means of jumpstarting the economy.
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Both 10 Downing Street and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) have sought to dismiss the speculation, with insiders instating that the IFR will be established as originally envisaged.
The establishment of the regulator, whose chair will be paid £ 130,000 a year, is among the principal elements of legislation progressing through parliament.
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The Football Governance Bill has just completed its journey through the House of Lords and will be introduced in the Commons shortly, according to a DCMS spokesman.
The establishment of the regulator, which was conceived by the previous Conservative government in the wake of the furore over the failed European Super League project, has triggered deep unrest in English football.
Steve Parish, the chairman of Premier League side Crystal Palace, told a recent sports industry conference that the watchdog “wants to interfere in all of the things we don’t need them to interfere in and help with none of the things we actually need help with”.
“We have a problem that we’re constantly being told that we’re not a business and [that] we’re part of the fabric of communities,” he is reported to have said.
“At the same time, we’re…being treated to the nth degree like a business.”
Interviews for the chair of the football regulator took place in November, with a previous recruitment process curtailed by the calling of last year’s general election.
Lisa Nandy, the culture secretary, will sign off on the appointment of a preferred candidate, with the chosen individual expected to face a pre-appointment hearing in front of the Commons culture, media and sport select committee.
It forms part of a process that represents the most fundamental shake-up in the oversight of English football in the game’s history.
The establishment of the body comes with the top tier of the professional game wracked by civil war, with Abu Dhabi-owned Manchester City at the centre of a number of legal cases over its financial dealings.
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The government has dropped a previous stipulation that the regulator should have regard to British foreign and trade policy when determining the appropriateness of a new club owner.
“We do not comment on speculation,” the DCMS said on Tuesday when asked by Sky News about Professor Sir Ian’s candidacy to chair the football watchdog.
“No appointment has been made and the recruitment process for [IFR] chair is ongoing.”
