Arsène Wenger has hit out at calls for a regulator in football, saying sports and politics “should not deal together”.
The Arsenal manager was speaking after three former FA chairmen wrote to the parliamentary committee for culture, media and sport calling for reform of football’s governing body and the creation of an independent regulator. Wenger said he was against such a development and that it would put at risk the “values of our sport”.
“Football is a very special activity that should be ruled by football people and our target is to be adult enough to rule our own activity,” he said. “Football and politics should not deal together.
“There should be no government intervention, no legislation. What I want is that the values of our sport are respected. When you look at the history of the game, when it was run by politics, you will see it was not for the benefit of the sport.”
The letter, written by three former FA chairmen, Greg Dyke, David Bernstein and David Triesman, as well as FA director David Davies and Alex Horne, a former chief executive, claimed the governing body is now incapable of defending the interests of the national game in the face of the “financial might” of the Premier League.
However, Wenger denied there was a crisis in the game. The Frenchman, who has been a Premier League manager since 1996, said the only matter of concern was the performance of the England national side
“I’m not involved in how to manage a federation on a daily basis, so I don’t know how difficult it is,” he said. “I don’t know what their concerns are but apart from the fact that England has not won the World Cup or European Championship I don’t see that football is in crisis in this country.”
