Soccer-Labour pledges ban on English clubs joining breakaway tournaments

FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - Women's Euro 2022 - Semi Final - England v Sweden - Bramall Lane, Sheffield, Britain - July 26, 2022 Labour Party leader Keir Starmer in the stands before the match REUTERS/Molly Darlington/File Photo

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's opposition Labour Party, who polls predict are set to win next month's general election, promised on Monday to create a new football regulator that would prevent Premier League clubs from joining Super League-style breakaway tournaments.

A proposal in 2021 for a breakaway league by Europe's 12 leading clubs sparked widespread protests among fans and threats of sanctions by UEFA, leading all but three of them to pull out of the project.

"In the face of continued threats of breakaways from some European clubs, we have to do this," Labour leader Keir Starmer, whose party has consistently maintained a double-digit lead against the governing Conservatives, said in a statement.

"On my watch, there will be no super league-style breakaways from English football."

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's government had also set out plans to establish an independent regulator that would have prohibited Premier League clubs from joining breakaway or unlicensed leagues.

However, that legislation failed to make it through parliament, which was dissolved last month after Sunak called the election for July 4.

(Reporting by Muvija M, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien)