New owners for Man City and Newcastle? Proposal to ban state-controlled clubs from English football submitted to Football Governance Bill

The proposal was put forward by Labour peer Lord Bassam of Brighton in an amendment to the Football Governance Bill, which would see an independent regulator brought in for the sport in England. According to The Times, it is believed the amendment only has a small chance of being agreed, but Premier League teams have called for such a ban from the government.

Newcastle are currently owned by the Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, which is chaired by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, while City's owner, Sheikh Mansour, is vice-president of the United Arab Emirates. Were the new proposal to become law, both teams would have to find new owners to be given a licence by the regulator.

The Football Governance Bill would see a new regulatory body introduced to oversee English football, bringing in new ownership and directors’ tests and establishing a new process to handle the distribution of revenue throughout the game.

The bill and Bassam's amendment are still up for discussion in the House of Lords over the coming weeks.