England faces being banned from its own Euros if Keir Starmer pushes ahead with football regulator reforms, Uefa warns

England could be banned from hosting Euro 2028 if Sir Keir Starmer pushes ahead with his plans to create a men’s football regulator, Uefa has warned.

A leaked copy of a letter from Uefa’s general secretary, Theodore Theodoridis to Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy, has warned against any ‘government interference in the running of football’. 

Labour has committed to implementing plans unveiled by the previous government for legislation to prevent top clubs forming breakaway leagues and curb financial mismanagement.

New laws would allow a newly created watchdog to oversee clubs in the top five divisions of English football.

Harry Kane playing for England. England faces being banned from hosting Euro 2028 if Sir Keir Starmer pushes ahead with his plans for a men’s football regulator, Uefa has warned

Sir Keir Starmer has committed to new rules preventing financial mismanagement of clubs and the forming of breakaway leagues

But in his letter to Ms Nandy, Mr Theodiridis said that it was a ‘fundamental requirement’ that the game remained independent.

The Uefa chief pointed to potential rules requiring club owners to align with the UK’s ‘trade and foreign policy objectives’ as state overreach, the Times reported. 

The new rules could see teams banned from scheduling friendly matches in certain hostile countries or attracting funding from overseas investors.

Uefa also expressed concerns that any potential new regulator could interfere with its own powers. 

Mr Theodoridis wrote: ‘We have specific rules that guard against [state meddling] in order to guarantee the autonomy of sport and fairness of sporting competition; the ultimate sanction for which would be excluding the federation from Uefa and teams from competition.’ 

Uefa’s general secretary Theodore Theodoridis said it was a ‘fundamental requirement’ that the game remains free of governmental interference

In a letter to Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy, Mr Theodoridis warned that planned UK reforms could amount to state overreach 

England’s participation in major football competitions, including the Euros and the Champions League, is contingent on its Uefa membership. 

The national team’s route to the World Cup is also through Uefa-administered qualifiers or the Nations League, which is also managed by the federation.

A source familiar with Uefa said that England’s participation in and hosting of the Euros could be affected if a ‘line is crossed’ which threatens relations between football bodies. 

It added that Mr Theodoridis’s letter was evidence that Uefa were concerned that the new reforms would be just the start of more government interference in the game, and that the measures announcement would be merely ‘the thin end of the wedge’.