If other industries allowed football’s regulatory failings “the public would be screaming from the roofs, as would the politicians.”

Regulatory expert says that the appointment of an independent regulator to English football would set an example to the rest of the world and boost the game’s commercial potential.

Football’s appetite for enforcement is “pathetic” and dominated by a “boys club” ethic to self-regulate,” says Toby Duthie, founding partner of Forensic Risk Alliance.

“You can have the best regulator in the world, but if it's not regulated, it doesn't have the chops to actually ban people…then it becomes fairly pointless.”