Football must be overseen by an independent regulator to fix a "broken" system, a Kent MP will tell Parliament.

Helen Grant, who represents Maidstone and the Weald at Westminster, is calling for beefed-up governance of the national sport which would ensure more equitable distribution of the game's riches.

A former sport minister in the Cameron administration, Mrs Grant sat on an independent group which has drawn up a manifesto for the overhaul of football which calls for the formation of a regulator with legal powers to force through reforms to the sport.

The introduction in the House of Commons tomorrow of a Ten Minute Rule Bill - which allows a backbench MP to make their case in a speech - comes at a time when there is renewed focus on funding in football as the industry battles a financial crisis resulting from the pandemic.

Mrs Grant, along with Chatham and Aylesford MP Tracey Crouch, has been critical of the way £10 million in National Lottery funding has been distributed to clubs in the National League.

They argue well-supported teams like Maidstone United have been left short-changed by a model which did not factor in average attendances when allocating the bail-out cash.

"The governance of English football is broken and our national game is in crisis as a result," Mrs Grant said.

"Huge financial disparities, outdated governance and vested interests have created a spiral of unsustainability within the game. These issues are not new, but they have been laid bare by the coronavirus pandemic and it is loyal football supporters from communities up and down our country who suffer as a result.

"Unfortunately, supporters of Maidstone United know this better than most, after our town's club unjustifiably lost out financially due to the flawed formula which was used to apportion the emergency Covid-19 National Lottery grant to National League football clubs.

"This is exactly the type of issue that an independent football regulator would address."

Mrs Grant says she envisages a regulator which, as well as distributing funds in the interests of the wider game, would investigate causes of financial stress in the sport, bring forward reform of the Football Association, and promote diversity and inclusion within football.

"Football has again and again proved that it is unable to reform itself," she said.

"If we are to protect and preserve the fabulous heritage of football in our country, the game's governance needs emergency surgery and it needs it now.

"We need an independent regulator with the authority and mandate required to drive through reform and make the governance of English football fit for the 21st century."

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