AS he was grilled about the governance of Scottish football by members of the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee at Holyrood last month, SFA chief executive Ian Maxwell was dismissive about the need for an independent regulator.

His remarks drew a scathing response from Stuart Murphy, his counterpart at the Scottish Football Supporters’ Association, last week.

Murphy, whose organisation sponsored a fan-led review of the game in this country which was published last year and which showed that 96.2 per cent of those surveyed were in favour of a regulator, disagreed and accused Maxwell of being “disrespectful”. 

Who will MSPs - who will debate a motion put forward by Ben McPherson, the SNP MSP for Edinburgh Northern and Leith, at the Scottish parliament today - side with?

The Herald: McPherson’s motion notes “the key recommendation of the fan-led review is that the governance, finance and conduct of Scottish football would benefit from independent scrutiny and, as necessary, appropriate regulation”.

Will his fellow elected representatives agree? They have been loath to involve themselves in the running of the sport here since the Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications (Scotland) Act 2012 was repealed in 2018. However, no fewer than 50 of them have already indicated their support.

READ MORE: Why Rangers' top youth players have started training barefooted

Is there an appetite to become embroiled in tackling sectarianism in the stands, deciding whether prospective owners are fit to run our most famous institutions, ruling where money should be invested in the grassroots game and looking at how kids in the pro-youth set-up are treated?

Siobhian Brown, the minister for Victims and Community Safety, last month disagreed that there was a need for the government to create a soccer tsar similar to the one which MPs at Westminster have voted to introduce.

James Dornan, the MSP for Glasgow Cathcart, claimed the failure by the SFA, SPFL, Police Scotland and clubs to prevent the illegal use of pyrotechnic devices at matches showed that both strict liability and an independent regulator were required. 

Brown said: “The footballing authorities themselves are proactively involved in delivering a robust and lasting solution. We will be taking forward a multi-agency approach to tackle this issue.”

Does that indicate the government is unwilling to go down this route?

Cynics would argue they would be better off concentrating on reducing drugs deaths, improving the education system, slashing health service waiting times and retaining their WhatsApp messages.

But many politicians certainly appear to be in favour of the move.  Richard Leonard, the Labour MSP for Central Scotland, called for a debate about an independent regulator for Scottish football being established as far back as 2022 after the nine elite clubs in the Club Academy Scotland system decided to retain controversial 30 month registrations for 15-year-olds.

The Herald: “This kind of exploitative treatment is everything that’s wrong with football as big business,” said Leonard. “Children and their families can’t wait another decade for ministers and the Scottish FA to act.”

READ MORE: Rangers academy director confident Ibrox club have 'best young talent'

There is, too, support within football. Ian McMenemy, the Stenhousemuir chairman who has served on SFA and SPFL committees, is onside. Speaking back in June when the review was published, he said: “We can't achieve change because of our own self-interest. A regulator might be able to help us unlock that and allow us to get to a point that is absolutely better for us.”

It remains unclear what legal powers the independent regulator for English football – who was brought in amid fears that foreign-owned Premier League clubs down south would break away and join a European Super League back in 2021 – will have to scrutinise clubs and ensure their long-term sustainability. 

But Dornan, who will speak at Holyrood today, feels that a Scottish football regulator would have an entirely different remit. He firmly believes it would be a positive move and he is certain that enough of his fellow MSPs are of a similar mind.

“It is very rare that I say we should follow the lead of Westminster,” he said. “But in this instance I have to give credit where it is due. They saw they had a problem in English football and they did something about it. I don’t think this is as contentious as the Offensive Behaviour at Football Act.

“The people who are running Scottish football are trying to pretend that nothing could be improved by having somebody without a vested interest making sure things are done properly. There is a clear contempt for any oversight at all. They believe it’s their ball and only they get to play with it.

“But the last two Children’s Commissioners have both said the behaviour of Scottish football is shameful. So maybe they aren’t doing everything right and maybe they could do with somebody to give them a wee shove occasionally. There are number of areas it could help with.

“I don’t think Scotland should copy what England have done. We have different issues. An independent regulator wouldn’t have anything to do with the running of the game. I think they would just be concerned with organisation and openness and transparency. A lot of taxpayers’ money goes into Scottish football.”

READ MORE: Rangers winger enjoying being 'tortured' by fans after rough start

A joint statement issued by the SFA, SPFL and SWPL last night read: "Thanks to the collective efforts of clubs, fans and football authorities, our national game is in a strong position, both in the men’s and women’s professional games and at grassroots level.
“The Scottish FA, the SPFL and the SWPL are all very closely aligned on using the power of football as a force for good in communities throughout Scotland, which is best achieved through increased investment in realising the unique social benefits of our national sport, rather than the implementation of additional - and we believe unnecessary - regulation."

The Herald: