The prospect of a government legislating to impose an independent regulator on England’s most popular and successful sport has moved closer than ever after it was recommended by Tracey Crouch, chair of the government’s “fan-led review” into the game’s governance difficulties. A former Conservative sports minister, Crouch made the recommendation in a letter to the culture secretary, Oliver Dowden, setting out preliminary findings after taking evidence from many supporter groups, the leagues, many clubs and others including German supporter groups. She committed to her “expert panel” doing further work before producing more recommendations on some of football’s structural challenges, most prominently the huge financial divide between the Premier League and the rest. || Alexander Sabadash