The row over football freebies reignited last night after it emerged that a senior Labour adviser has landed a top lobbying job with the Premier League.
The Mail on Sunday can reveal that Peter Middlehurst, a highly regarded party insider who helped draw up Labour’s sports policy, has been hired by the division’s bosses amid a major campaign to water down plans for a new watchdog.
Sources fear he will help the Premier League dilute the financial powers of the independent football regulator that the Government is in the process of establishing.
‘It’s the Premier League doing anything they can to weaken the regulator and get anyone on side who may be helpful to them,’ one Westminster source last night said.
‘They have tried everything – and they will keep on trying. They are not used to losing.’
Mr Middlehurst’s appointment comes as Sir Keir Starmer and other Labour MPs are embroiled in a freebie row following giveaways worth more than £100,000 by the Premier League and various teams in the division.
Sir Keir alone accepted more than £35,000 worth of free tickets for 29 different matches over the past five years, which critics say threatens his impartiality over the planned regulator – which could stop teams joining breakaway leagues and block investment from controversial countries.
Ministers are due to publish the Football Governance Bill, which will establish the regulator, within a fortnight.
A key battleground is whether the Government gives the body power over the Premier League’s parachute payments for relegated clubs. Many lower league teams believe this is vital to close the massive financial divide with the biggest clubs – but the proposal is fiercely opposed by the Premier League.
Mr Middlehurst was a political adviser to former shadow cabinet member Thangam Debbonaire, and was expected to become a special adviser in Sir Keir’s government, but his plans were derailed when she was ousted at the election.
One football source said his new role is likely to have doubled his salary. Hailing his new job on LinkedIn, Mr Middlehurst wrote: ‘I’m looking forward to working with parliamentarians so that the Premier League remains the greatest in the world and can continue to contribute to the whole game and our national story.’
A Premier League source denied Mr Middlehurst had been hired to water down the powers of the regulator and that politics had nothing to do with his recruitment.