Soccer-Premier League warned Independent Regulator could impose EFL deal
LONDON (Reuters) - Premier League clubs have been warned by the British government to reach agreement for a new financial deal with Football League (EFL) teams or have one imposed on them by an independent Football Regulator.

The 20 top-flight clubs have been in negotiations with their lower league counterparts about the 'New Deal' which would see around 900 million pounds ($1.14 billion) distributed over a six-year period.

Premier League chief Richard Masters has so far been unable to secure a mandate from a majority of Premier League clubs with talks paused at the end of last year.

However, Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer has urged the Premier League to complete the deal which is designed to level up the disparity between the elite and the 72 Football League clubs.

"We don't want this to be an issue for the regulator," Frazer said at the Financial Times Business of Football Conference in London on Thursday.

"It is in the Premier League and EFL's interests to come to a deal but it is clear if they don't the regulator will."

The UK government has promised to bring in legislation for a new Independent Regulator this year with a remit including financial stability, protecting the interests of fans and stopping clubs joining breakaway leagues.

More than 60 English clubs, mainly in the lower rungs of the ladder, have entered administration since the Premier League came into being in 1992.

Frazer said the government was not "hanging around" in its push for the Independent Regulator which was in the Football Governance Bill outlined in the King's Speech.

"It's very important that we get this right. Football is so important," she said on Thursday.

Frazer said the regulator would not discourage foreign investors of nation states investing in Premier League clubs.

"The Premier League is a massive cultural export. We don't want to do anything to damage that. Whether a foreign state should own the club is not in this bill. We want people who run clubs to run them well."

($1 = 0.7898 pounds)

(Reporting by Martyn Herman; Editing by Toby Davis)
LONDON (Reuters) -     Premier League clubs have been warned by the British government to reach agreement for a new financial deal with Football League (EFL) teams or have one imposed on them by an independent Football Regulator.