THERE are those who say sport and politics should never mix. The impending introduction of an independent regulator for football is but one example of how often those lines are blurred though.
What does this have to do with rugby league? Well, the idea of a similar regulator for the 13-a-side handling code in the UK was put to the secretary of state for culture, media and sport in her recent appearance on Sky Sports’ The Bench podcast.
Lisa Nandy, who serves as member of parliament for the Wigan and therefore has Betfred Super League champions Wigan Warriors based in her constituency, did not fully embrace the concept when it was put to her by co-host Jon Wilkin, but did not reject it outright either.
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“We’re really keen to make sure rugby is financially sustainable, the clubs are well-run, the fans are at the heart of the game because they are the game, and why it exists and why it thrives,” Nandy said.
“At the moment, I haven’t heard any case put to as to why you would need to establish a regulator for rugby in the same way as football.
“It’s a big step for the government to set up a system which allows someone to step in. We haven’t taken it lightly.
“I would need to be really convinced the problems were so accute we would have to step in.”
So, nothing to worry about for rugby league’s powerbrokers as far as government intervention goes, right?
Erm, not quite. Because that “at the moment” left enough wiggle room for the idea to be revisited at some point in the future.
Football’s failure to, as Nandy put it, get its house in order over long-standing governance issues, particularly around rogue club owners and the ever-growing financial disparity between the Premier League and the rest of the game have led to the Football Governance Bill.
This might be one of those rare occasions where rugby league should be thankful it does not have the same nationwide mass appeal as the round-ball code which makes it so alluring for politicians of all stripes to hitch themselves to whenever it is expedient, because it barely needs the surface scratching to reveal all sorts of governance issues of its own.
How about Salford Red Devils seemingly being in a state of perma-crisis despite an RFL-approved takeover in February? Or a Super League club being set to move eight miles away up the road to an entirely different town while planning to build a new hom ground at some indeterminate point in the future? Or even the club-backed boardroom coup at the governing body which left the RFL without a chair as their choice breached Sport England’s code for sports governance?
And these are just a handful of examples from this year alone.
Anything which attracts Sport England’s attention could prove particularly problematic, given the body is part-financed by HM Treasury and the RFL are receiving annual funding to the tune of £11.9million from it up until the end of 2027.
This is all taking place amid a club-led review and possible NRL involvement in the top level of the sport, the outcome of both of which could yet lead to more divisions opening up in a sport already riddled with them.
Do not forget as well, the sport is still paying back £16million in public money which was loaned to it when Super League was forced behind closed doors and every other level was effectively shut down during the Covid-19 pandemic – something those at both the Treasury the Department for Culture, Media and Sport will have an eye on.
If fan dissent starts growing in constituencies like Nandy’s, then MPs might well start paying attention.
And if the football regulator turns out to have some teeth rather than just being another paper tiger, the voices for similar to be introduced for rugby league might grow louder.
Admittedly, the issues in rugby league are hardly the most pressing matter facing the British government at present.
Yet the message is clear to Team Nigel and the sport as a whole: Get your house in order, or eventually someone else might – for better or worse – do it for you.