5 h. ago Government should be able to order football regulator to review decisions – MP

Tory Luke Evans said unhappiness over the end of FA Cup replays could be avoided if ministers can ask a new governing body to ‘look again’.

Politics

25 h. ago UK plans joint bid to host 2035 Women’s World Cup in ‘monumental moment’

England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland involvedKeir Starmer promises ‘government’s full support’The home nations are to join together in a bid to host the Women’s World Cup in 2035, a move which, if successful, would mark a “monumental moment in our nation’s sporting history”, according to Keir Starmer, the prime minister.A formal expression of interest in staging the tournament, which could be comprised of as many as 48 teams, is to be submitted to Fifa this month on behalf of the football associations of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, the governing bodies have confirmed. Continue reading...

Politics

30 h. ago Action needed to protect 'treasure trove' of listed buildings in Renfrewshire, warns councillor

James MacLaren secured agreement for a motion lamenting the loss of the TA Building and calling for a review of regulations.

Events

62 h. ago Looming relegation vote begs question: do WSL clubs now have too much power? | Suzanne Wrack

Amid a controversial proposal to suspend relegation in the WSL, decision-makers risk putting self-interest above all elseOn Friday a shareholder meeting of the Women’s Professional Leagues Ltd took place to discuss the future of the women’s professional game. This was not unusual. The body responsible for running the Women’s Super League and Championship, owned by the clubs and having taken over from the Football Association last summer, holds quarterly meetings and each one has involved discussions on the professional women’s game in England as it enters a new phase.There was caution ahead of the first season of WPLL ownership; no immediate expansion, no swift progression to full-time referees, no big moves to adopt the other recommendations in the fan-led government review of women’s football carried out by Karen Carney, despite a widespread desire for many of them. Continue reading...

Politics

3 d. ago Porn isn’t just a reflection of our desires – it shapes them, putting women and girls at risk | Fiona Vera

For too long UK has law trailed behind internet platforms. After a long-awaited review, ministers must put this rightIf you’ve seen porn in recent years, you’ll know it’s grim out there these days. Incest and strangulation are rife, as is coercion, racism, and also sexual violence. It’s front and centre on mainstream porn sites and many social media platforms, pushed by recommendation algorithms on a drive to maximise engagement and profit. It’s a world away from the days when “hardcore” porn meant an erect penis. But we might be on the brink of change.Last week the long-awaited independent porn review led by the Conservative peer Gabby Bertin was published, marking the biggest review of pornography regulation in more than 40 years. Its findings amount to a clear indictment of what counts as porn today and the inaction of successive governments to do anything to fix it. It was a Labour government which first brought in the extreme porn law in 2009, recognising the need for a step-ch...

Events

6 d. ago Dumbarton FC's plight raised at Parliament as MP calls for Scots Football Governance Bill

Labour MP Douglas McAllister says the community has continued to rally behind Dumbarton as he quizzed the UK Government on what can be done to better protect clubs across the UK.

Politics

7 d. ago UK competition regulator will review fewer global deals, says boss

CMA head also warns it will not be ‘open season’ for takeovers harmful to consumers

Economics

7 d. ago Ban violent pornography showing strangulation, ministers urged

A major review of the industry has proposed giving regulator Ofcom the power to police porn sites plagued with ‘harmful’ material

Politics

7 d. ago Lise Klaveness: ‘If Fifa followed their own reforms, it would be very good. But they didn’t’

The first female president of Norway’s FA will soon have a seat on Uefa’s ExCo, but she has no intention of being any less disruptive to football’s governing bodiesLise Klaveness cut a lonely figure in April 2023 as she walked across the cavernous Lisbon Congress Centre, where Aleksander Ceferin had just been re-elected for a third term as Uefa president.Seven seats were on offer on the confederation’s executive committee, but she registered the second-lowest number of votes of the 11 candidates. This was not unexpected. Twelve months previously, Klaveness had addressed the Fifa congress in Doha in terms which the delegates, including all of the Uefa FA presidents, were not accustomed to hearing. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Criticism as Welsh Government puts less into legacy fund for women's football than men's

A legacy fund for the men's team after the World Cup was £1.8m, the equivalent for the women's team is £800,000

Politics