My Lords, I would like to say a few words on Amendment 17 just moved by my noble friend the Minister. I tabled an amendment in Committee to try to ensure that the players appeared in the Bill, as originally they did not.

I very much welcome the fact that my noble friend has listened to the representations, not just by me and my noble friend Lady O’Grady but by the Professional Footballers’ Association and others, who have made the very reasonable case that, with the insertion of a reference to players as a group in this section, the regulator is expected to,

“so far as reasonably practicable, co-operate, and proactively and constructively engage” with players. In effect, they become statutory consultees of the IFR, which is only appropriate because there is of course no football without the players. I very much welcome the wording that the Minister has come forward with; it meets my concerns and those of others.

The other part of this is the fans. I also put forward an amendment in Committee proposing that the fans should be defined in some way. I have had discussions with my noble friend the Minister. It was always going to be difficult. I assume that it will soon become the job of the regulator to define what a fan is. I still hold to the belief that you need to have some address for a fan if you are going to consult them. That is why I proposed in Committee that season ticket holders should be the best way of deciding who the fans are for consultation purposes, but I accept that it has not been possible to reach any kind of consensus on that.

I welcome the wording in this amendment. Again, I commend my noble friend and the Government on listening to representations and coming up with wording as a result.