Firstly, we will be calling it football, we understand its traditional name is soccer and that soccer is not an Americanism, much like fall/autumn. However, the game we watch now is known as football and there isn't much point arguing with it.
The development of modern football was closely tied to processes of industrialisation and urbanisation in Victorian Britain. As a proud Northerner I can visit the worlds first modern football club, Sheffield FC, founded in 1857. The sport had a few rules we don't have today, but it had the sense of community and camoradere that is lacking in football today.
Spending in football has never been so high, there are record transfers in the English Premier League, amongst big spenders in the Eropean Leagues and the emergence of Saudi and Qatari football clubs. There are very few clubs in England owned by those they were created for any by; the local people.
The Football Association was founded in 1863 to standardise and referee football matches, it was and still is the governing body. Leading clubs, notably those in Lancashire, started charging admission to spectators as early as the 1870s and so were in a position to pay illicit wages to attract highly skilled working-class players, contrary to FA rules.
Working-class players and northern English clubs sought a professional system that would provide, in part, some financial reward to cover their “broken time” (time lost from their other work) and the risk of injury. The FA remained staunchly elitist in sustaining a policy of amateurism that protected upper and upper-middle class influence over the game.
Financial Fair Play Regulations.
The rules regarding financial fair play are making headlines quite regularly at the moment with a number of clubs accused of breaching these rules, and some that have already been punished.
Everton were whacked with a 10-point deduction for breaches in the Financial Fair Play regulations which has once again put them in danger of relegation. Everton is one of the oldest teams and a founder team of the Premier League, and it has never left the top tier since.
Everton, who had 14 points after 12 games before the deduction, said the sanction was “wholly disproportionate and unjust” and announced its intention to appeal the decision to the Premier League.
This week they were hit again with further punishment for financial breaches.
Nottingham Forest have also been found guilty of similar breaches. Especially amidst a plethora of signings including Neco Williams and star Brennan Johnson.
Manchester City have been accused of breaching a number of the Premier League's Financial Fair Play rules and they are still defending their actions in Court.
The Personal Side of Football.
Brain injury claims brought by former footballers and the family of England World Cup winner Nobby Stiles have had their first day in court this week. The High Court heard that the case, over alleged harm caused by heading the ball, involves almost 19 claimants.
The case against the International Football Association Board, the Football Association, the Football League Limited, and the Football Association of Wales follows litigation against World Rugby Limited, Welsh Rugby Union Limited and England’s Rugby Football Union over brain injuries.
Parties in the football claim clashed over the relevance of the rugby case. Jonathan Darby, for the claimants, described the litigation as ‘one of three strands’. Martin Porter KC, for D2, said the defendants ‘strongly resist’ the claim.
Porter added: ‘As far as I am concerned, this is the litigation. I do not want to be dragged into litigation that involves a completely different game. [It is] not going to be the same allegations as those made against rugby authorities. This is largely about heading the football, a concept completely alien to rugby.’
Steven Snowden KC, for The Football Association of Wales, said: ‘It is so important to bear in mind this is not a CMC. This is the claimants seeking the court's indulgence for being late. They had four months to serve claim forms and they did not. They have put forward some reasons and we, for today,…are content to accept to give them a bit of time.’
The half-day hearing in the Royal Courts of Justice was held to hear an application for extension of time to serve the particulars of claim. A further case management hearing will be heard in the spring.
The Role of the FA, FIFA, and UEFA.
It is important to note that these are distinct groups covering different jurisdictions so we will review them separately.
The Football Association.
The FA's Senior Management Team, working together with the FA Board, Council and staff, aims to deliver an effective and professional organisation for the greater good of English football. The FA consists of a permanent staff, based at Wembley Stadium and St. George's Park.
Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world and is responsible for overseeing all aspects of the amateur and professional game in its territory. The FA is a member of both UEFA and FIFA and holds a permanent seat on the International Football Association Board (IFAB) which is responsible for the Laws of the Game.
After many years of wrangling between the London-based Football Association and the Sheffield Football Association, the FA Cup brought the acceptance that one undisputed set of laws was required. The two associations had played 16 inter-association matches under differing rules
The Football Association is ran similar to a company with the teams acting almost like subsidiaries who must respond and regard the policies of the board and CEO. The FA often publishes the Rules of the Association. The Government can, and has influenced the laws and rules of the game of football. They have banned certain sponsorships, such as Gambling Companies as lead shirt sponsors.
UEFA.
The Union of European Football Associations is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach football in Europe and the transcontinental countries of Turkey, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Kazakhstan, as well as some Asian countries such as Israel, Cyprus and Armenia.
As football continues to grow in international popularity, the need for oversight becomes greater. UEFA sees its mission as maintaining the equality and transparancy of football across Europe and beyond.
President Aleksander Čeferin's opening speech to UEFA Congress 2024 celebrated the governing body's 70th anniversary and highlighted the need to protect the model that has kept European football at the top of the game for decades.
UEFA has enacted a clear legal framework, applicable to the competitions that it organises, to combat the risk of match-fixing. Several rules have been introduced, which have also been added to the various competition regulations.
In 2014, the XXXVIII Ordinary UEFA Congress held in Astana on 27 March unanimously approved the resolution "European football united for the integrity of the game”. This resolution has determined 11 comprehensive points which provide a legal base for actions and harmonisation of the rules in each UEFA member association.
FIFA.
Fédération Internationale de Football Association, more commonly referred to as FIfa, governs the sport on a global level. It is responsible for the regulation and maintainance of the World Cup to smaller clubs and grants in deprived areas.
It was founded in 1904 to oversee international competition among the national associations of Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.
Membership now comprises 211 national associations. These national associations must also be members of one of the six regional confederations into which the world is divided: CAF (Africa), AFC (Asia and Australia), UEFA (Europe), CONCACAF (North & Central America and the Caribbean), OFC (Oceania), and CONMEBOL (South America).
FIFA does not solely set the laws of the game, that being the responsibility of the International Football Association Board of which FIFA is a member, it applies and enforces the rules across all FIFA competitions.
IFAB.
The International Football Association Board (IFAB) is the body that determines the Laws of the Game of association football. IFAB was founded in 1886 to agree standardised Laws for international competition, and has since acted as the "guardian" of the internationally used Laws. Since its establishment in 1904, FIFA, the sport's top governing body, has recognised IFAB's jurisdiction over the Laws.
IFAB is a separate body to FIFA, but FIFA maintains a 50% voting power. The Football Associations of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales all have a permanent seat on the Council as legacy members. Amendments to the Laws require a three-quarter supermajority vote, meaning that FIFA's support is necessary but not sufficient for a motion to pass.
The Laws must also contribute to the safety and welfare of players and it is The IFAB’s responsibility to react quickly and appropriately to support the game’s participants, through the Laws themselves, when the need arises. For example, a temporary amendment to Law 3 was introduced in response to the COVID-19 pandemic to give top competitions the option of increasing the maximum number of substitutions for each team from three to five.
The Football and Technical Advisory Panels FAP and TAP, include experienced members from the football world, like former players and referees, that support The IFAB’s Technical Subcommittee in the decision-making process.
Actual changes to the Laws can only be introduced during the Annual General Meetings (AGM), where the General Assembly formed by the key representatives of the IFAB take part and which are normally held every February or March in England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland in rotation, as well as other locations decided by FIFA in years of the FIFA World Cup™.
The decision-making process is always the same, irrespective of the topic, and is never-ending as the Laws must be dynamic and ready to adapt to changes in the way football is played today.
Any football association can make a proposal or a recommendation relating to the Laws for consideration by The IFAB, by forwarding in writing the suggestions or proposed alterations, requests for experimentation and other items for discussion to the Secretary of The IFAB not later than 1 October.
Wembley Stadium / FA | Getty