English football is in need of an overhaul to protect it from the danger of rising debt and financial instability, according to a report by MPs.
The Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee have produced a scything report which has labelled the Football Association Council as "not fit for purpose."
MPs have called for measures to curb the game's "excesses" and a "strong fit and proper persons test."
They would also like to the end of insolvency rules, which they believe encourage "excessive financial risk-taking" which they felt would be "illegal" in all other areas of business.
The committee warned that if football did not take the necessary steps to clean up the game then they would.
"As a last resort, in the absence of substantive progress, we recommend that the Government consider introducing legislation to require the FA to implement the necessary governance reforms in line with its duties as a governing body," it said.
Committee
The committee said the FA needed "urgent reform" if it was to change the game.
"The principle that the FA Council should act as the parliament of football is a good one. However, the FA Council as currently constructed is not fit for this purpose," it said.
The committee expressed concern at the extent to which clubs were "making losses and operating on the edge of viability" with "escalating wages" driving up the levels of debt.
It said that since the Premier League became the top tier of the game in England, clubs had been "incentivised" to "spend up to the hilt" to win promotion to it or to retain their place there.
"While we acknowledge that financial regulations have been tightened of late, we are not convinced that even the new rules recently adopted by both the Premier League and the Football League are by themselves sufficient to curb English football's excesses," it added.
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