Sports Thoughts: Independent Football Regulator kicks off November with new powers

The Football Governance Act 2025 became law in July 2025. The Act established the new Independent Football Regulator (IFR) and gave the IFR its initial powers. However, the IFR needed the Secretary of State for Culture Media and Sport to pass further regulations under the Act to clarify which leagues the IFR would regulate and to activate its other powers.

This article summarises two recent regulations under the Act, which have: (a) confirmed that the IFR will regulate the top five tiers of men’s football in England; and (b) activated the IFR’s information gathering powers.

 

Who will the IFR regulate?

On 24 November 2025, the IFR formally gained powers to regulate the top five professional tiers of men’s football in England.¹

The Government had already indicated that the IFR would regulate the top five leagues in the pyramid. But, until now, the Act did not state which competitions were in scope.

From 24 November 2025, the Act will apply to all clubs in the Premier League, the Championship, League One, League Two, and the National League.

The Secretary of State may specify further competitions in the future. It will therefore be interesting to see whether the IFR ends up regulating women’s football teams or clubs lower down the men’s pyramid.

 

The IFR’s information gathering powers are switched on

On 1 November 2025, the IFR’s information‑gathering powers came into force.²

In summary, the IFR now has the following wide-ranging powers:

• Power to require information: the IFR can issue an information notice requiring a person to provide information that the IFR considers is “necessary for the purpose of exercising the IFR’s functions under the Act” (see, Clause 65 of the Act). Importantly, the IFR can require the person to obtain or generate information for the purpose of giving that information to the IFR, and to collect or retain information that they would not otherwise collect or retain to give it to the IFR. “Information” is widely defined to include information in any form (not just documentary);

• Reports on clubs by expert reporters: the IFR may appoint an “expert reporter” to conduct targeted reviews or audits of regulated clubs where the IFR considers that a report on the matter is necessary for the purpose of exercising the IFR’s functions. An expert reporter will be able to issue its own information notices to any person where it considers that such information is necessary for the purposing of preparing its expert report (see, Clause 66 of the Act); and

• Sanctions: the IFR will be able to issue sanctions if a relevant person fails “without reasonable excuse” to comply with an information requirement under Section 65 or 66 of the Act. The IFR’s sanctions include powers to censure offenders publicly, and to impose financial penalties (e.g. up to 10% of global revenue for a club or 10% of a club officer’s remuneration) (see, Clause 75 and Schedule 9 of the Act). In extreme cases, the IFR may pursue criminal sanctions against a recipient of an information request who wilfully or recklessly tries to keep information away from the IFR or misleads it.

 

Can I withhold sensitive or confidential information from disclosure to the IFR?

No – not if it is within the scope of an information notice.

The Act does not provide any exceptions for the disclosure of commercially sensitive or confidential information. But the IFR would be required to treat any such information confidentially and not use it for any unrelated purpose.

In its recent consultation paper on Information Gathering and Enforcement, the IFR said that:

• It is “conscious that its information gathering will mean it holds information that those providing it consider to be commercially sensitive”;

• But the “fact that a person thinks the information is confidential does not, however, mean that it need not be provided to the IFR” and the IFR will not “accept blanket or unsubstantiated claims of confidentiality”.

In practice, confidentiality will not be a bar to disclosure, but the IFR will assess confidentiality issues when it considers whether to disclose or publish information (in a balance between confidentiality and transparency).  

 

What about privileged documents?

The IFR cannot compel the disclosure of any legally privileged information. In short, a person would not need to disclose any communications that are covered by legal advice privilege or litigation privilege (even if they are relevant to an information request).

 

Practical steps for dealing with an IFR information notice

If you receive an information request in draft or final form, you should seek legal advice as soon as possible.

The IFR has indicated that it will “typically discuss draft information requests with clubs, including the scope, format and deadline of the request, before a formal request is sent”.

It will be important to instruct advisers to help you respond to the request promptly whilst protecting your position. This will include, for example, protecting privileged documents, alerting the IFR to any issues with the request, and seeking to ensure that the IFR treats confidential and/or sensitive commercial information appropriately.

DLA Piper’s Sports Disputes Practice and market-leading Electronic Data Management team are experienced in handling complicated disclosure exercises and regulatory information requests.

If you have any questions about the contents of this article or require further guidance, please email the authors.

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¹Football Governance Act 2025 (Specified Competitions) Regulations 2025/1216.
²Pursuant to The Football Governance Act 2025 (Commencement No. 1) Regulations 2025/1134.