Richard Masters 'worried' as he sends investment warning to Newcastle United and clubs
Newcastle United's owners have been shackled by PSR rules - but Richard Masters has warned that the independent regulator could 'constrain' clubs.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer wants the football governance bill to pass in parliament 'as quickly as possible' and Masters, the Premier League's chief executive, suggested it could 'see its way through to fruition' at some point in the summer. It comes at a time when the Premier League are 'quite close' to bringing in a new financial regulatory system that would replace the current PSR rules, which limit losses to £105m over a rolling three-year period.
Clubs are currently trialling squad cost regulations, as well as top to bottom anchoring in shadow, before voting on the matter. Although the established order are currently able to spend more, on account of greater revenues, Masters claimed the new regulator could negatively change the 'investment environment' in the top-flight.
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"We have that jeopardy," Masters told Sky Sports. "We have that constant fizz of compelling entertainment. No one quite knows what's going to happen and who's going to win. That is the unique selling point of the Premier League. That's why people tune in from all around the world. There are many different reasons, but that I think is the one that perhaps separates us from others.
"If you have a third party coming in from the side and regulating a part of that system financially by being able to look at clubs' business plans and potentially constrain their ability to invest, that worries us. We have always been pro-investment within measured risks. The Premier League is not a pension fund - it is a place where capital is put at risk.
"There is no certainty of outcome which, again, is one of the things that makes it interesting so we do worry that a new regulatory function might be risk averse and might inhibit clubs' ability to invest and the ability to invest is key to competitive balance and that jeopardy that I'm talking about. Of course, at the moment, we have a situation where we have lots of international investors willing to take positions in Premier League clubs, take over Premier League clubs and invest in the future of the Premier League clubs and we think that's a good thing."
