Financial disparity tough to smooth out says Scudamore

HONG KONG, July 30 (Reuters) - Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore said on Saturday it was not his job to erase financial disparities between clubs the day after a parliamentary report urged sweeping changes to English football.

The Culture, Media and Sport Committee said on Friday that the Football Association should lead the way in shaking up soccer to address levels of debt and to secure the domestic game’s future.

Scudamore, who oversees the most lucrative domestic league competition in world soccer, said the Premier League would study the report and speak directly to government, the Football League, the FA and with Premier League clubs.

But he said it was impossible to iron out the financial disparities between clubs.

“Every since football began in England there has been financial disparity. And I preside over a league that now has clubs that turn over 300 million pounds ($492 million) a year and clubs that turn over 50 million pounds a year. So the financial disparity has always been there,” he told reporters.

“It is not my job to smooth out and iron out the financial disparities between clubs. An impossible thing to do, a non-starter.

“But we have got to make sure that each club at the smaller end is able to compete by, you know, and that’s why international revenues, growing the league generally, works for everybody, gives everybody a lift up. But I’m not going to be able to smooth the financial imbalance.”

Deloitte’s Annual Review of Football Finance, published last month, said operating profit margins in the Premier League had reduced from 16 percent to four percent over the lifetime of the competition.

Figures also showed the net debt of top-flight clubs a year ago was 2.6 billion pounds ($4.2 billion) and that more than 50 percent of division one, two and three clubs had gone into administration since the Premier League was founded in 1992. ($1 = 0.609 British Pounds)