The Conservatives have demanded an investigation after the man set to lead the new football regulator revealed he had donated money to Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership campaign.
Media executive David Kogan was nominated as chairman of the Independent Football Regulator last month, having initially been approached by the previous Conservative government.
As well as advising the Premier League, EFL and other leagues on broadcast rights, Mr Kogan has also donated thousands of pounds to Labour MPs and candidates in recent years and sat on the board of Labour news website LabourList.
On Wednesday morning, he revealed to MPs on the Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee that he had also donated “very small sums” to the leadership campaigns of both the Prime Minister and the Culture Secretary, Lisa Nandy, in 2020.
But he insisted he had “total personal independence from all of them”, saying he had “never actually been particularly close to any of the individuals to whom I have donated money”.
He told MPs: “I’m not really susceptible to any pressure, including political pressure, and the so-called ties to the Labour Party are, in fact, far less than have appeared in the public press.
“I don’t believe that I have undermined that (independence) by writing books about the Labour Party, being on the LabourList board or being a donor, but clearly that’s a judgment call that others may need to make, rather than myself.”
Mr Kogan added that he had “never had a one-on-one meeting” with Sir Keir and had not met him since he became Prime Minister, but recognised there was “a perception of bias”.
The donations to Sir Keir and Ms Nandy’s leadership campaigns are understood to have been below the threshold for public declaration.
But Conservative shadow sports minister Louie French said the failure to disclose those donations publicly when Mr Kogan was put forward for the role was “a clear breach of the governance code on public appointments” and called for an investigation.
He said: “The decision to install David Kogan – a major Labour Party donor and former director of LabourList – as chair of the Independent Football Regulator, without disclosing his extensive personal political donations to Keir Starmer, is a serious breach of public trust.
“Fans were promised an impartial and independent regulator, but instead they are being handed a political appointee whose impartiality is already in question.”
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said Mr Kogan’s appointment had been “made as a result of fair and open competition” and run “in accordance with the Government’s code on public appointments”.
The spokesman added: “The declaration process as set out by the rules has obviously been followed. The process for appointing him to the role has been followed and will continue to be followed.”
