No conflict of interest in appointing Labour donor as football regulator chair, No 10 says
There was no conflict of interest in the incoming football regulator chair donating to Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour leadership campaign, Downing Street has said.
Appearing before the Culture, Media and Sport select committee on Wednesday, David Kogan admitted he had donated “very small sums of money” to the leadership bids of Sir Keir and Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy in 2020.
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Mr Kogan told the pre-appointment hearing this hadn’t been discovered by the media, but he was “happy to declare it now”.
The media executive was nominated as chairman of the Independent Football Regulator last month, having initially been approached by the previous Conservative government.
Mr Kogan insisted he had “total personal independence from all of them”, saying he had “never actually been particularly close to any of the individuals to whom I have donated money”.
Louie French, the shadow minister for sport, has suggested there was a “potential breach of the Governance Code on Public Appointments” on this matter, saying it “must urgently be investigated”.
Mr French later told the Commons that Labour’s decision not to disclose these donations when Mr Kogan’s appointment was announced “represents a clear discourtesy to both this House and the DCMS select committee”.
This appointment may need a VAR check
David Kogan’s appointment seems like a case of obvious cronyism.
A bit like committing a bookable offence with the referee only yards away: the referee in this fixture being Dame Caroline Dineage, who chairs the culture, media and sport committee.
Will the MPs’ decision now go into extra time?
Tory MP Louie French wants to blow the whistle on his appointment, claiming it’s a breach of the code on public appointments.
French claims politics and sport shouldn’t mix. But every football fan knows they do, of course. Arsenal fan Starmer is just the latest prime minister to parade his passion for football.
Ironically, the regulator is not a Labour idea. It was in Boris Johnson’s 2019 Conservative manifesto and was recommended in a review by the former Tory sports minister Tracey Crouch in 2021.
But even before it kicks off, it’s showing relegation form. The Arsenal vice chair Tim Lewis, West Ham vice chair Baroness Karren Brady, and Brighton chief executive Paul Barber have all put the boot in.
Brady, a Tory peer and leading opponent in the House of Lords, claims it could deter investment. Barber claims clubs could cut funding for academies and women and girls’ football.
Now it looks like Kogan’s candour before the MPs has put him in an offside position.
And his appointment is now surely a decision for VAR.
However, Downing Street has said “all the rules have been followed” in the appointment of Mr Kogan.
He was confirmed as the culture secretary’s preferred candidate to head the watchdog on 25 April.
Sir Keir Starmer’s spokesperson insisted that a “fair and open competition” was run for the position.
Number 10 added that political activity “should not affect judgements of merit”.
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Lisa Nandy. Pic: PA
However, this is not the first time the appointment of the Labour Party donor has led to accusations of cronyism.
Ms Nandy rejected those claims during the Football Governance Bill’s second reading on 28 April, and pointed out the previous Conservative government had also targeted Mr Kogan for the role prior to last summer’s election.
He has previously advised the Premier League, the EFL and other leagues on broadcast rights deals in a 45-year career as a media executive, business leader and corporate adviser.
The regulator’s main remit will be to operate a licensing system for clubs in the top five tiers of the English game, focusing primarily on their financial sustainability and how accountable they are to their fans.
The legislation which will give the regulator statutory backing – the Football Governance Bill – is progressing through parliament.
A group of Democratic senators has reportedly sent a letter to leadership at the US Department of Justice and the Treasury Department expressing concerns about US President Donald Trump’s ties to cryptocurrency exchange Binance and potential conflicts of interest in regulating the industry.
According to a May 9 Bloomberg report, Democratic senators asked Attorney General Pam Bondi and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to report on the steps Binance had taken as part of its November 2023 plea agreement with US authorities, amid reports that Trump and his family had deepened connections with the exchange.
That settlement saw Binance pay more than $4 billion as part of a deal with the Justice Department, Treasury, and Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and had then-CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao step down.
However, since Trump won the presidency in 2024, many lawmakers have accused the president of corruption from profiting off crypto while being in a position to influence laws and regulations over the industry.
Trump has launched his own memecoin — which earns the project millions of dollars in transaction fees — and offered the top tokenholders the opportunity to attend an exclusive dinner in Washington, DC. His family-backed crypto venture World Liberty Financial also recently announced that an Abu Dhabi-based investment firm, MGX, would settle a $2 billion investment in Binance using the platform’s USD1 stablecoin.
“Our concerns about Binance’s compliance obligations are even more pressing given recent reports that the company is using the Trump family’s stablecoin to partner with foreign investment companies,” the senators said in the letter, according to Bloomberg.
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Stablecoin bill fails to pass the US Senate
The letter came less than 24 hours after some of the same senators blocked a crucial vote on a bill to regulate stablecoins, named the GENIUS Act. Senator Elizabeth Warren, who reportedly signed the letter and opposed moving forward on the stablecoin bill, suggested the Senate should not be aligned with “facilitat[ing] this kind of corruption” from Trump.
Bessent said the Senate “missed an opportunity” by not passing the stablecoin bill, but did not directly address any of the concerns over Trump’s crypto interests. It’s unclear if or when the chamber could consider another vote on the bill.
In an April 23 report, the nonpartisan organization State Democracy Defenders Action said roughly 40% of Trump’s net worth was tied to crypto. The group noted that the GENIUS Act, in its current version, “would not prevent President Trump from using his executive powers to establish a regulatory environment and enforcement agenda that prioritizes his personal enrichment over the broader interests of US stakeholders.”
Amid the concerns with the stablecoin and proposed market structure bills, Zhao reportedly applied for a federal pardon from Trump. Though the former CEO already served four months in prison, a pardon for his felony charge could allow him to get more involved with the crypto industry through a management position.
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Taiwanese lawmaker Ko Ju-Chun has called on the government to consider adding Bitcoin to its national reserves, suggesting it could serve as a hedge against global economic uncertainty.
Ko, a legislator at-large in Taiwan’s legislative body, the Legislative Yuan, took to X on Friday to report that he had advocated Bitcoin (BTC) investment by the Taiwanese government at the National Conference on May 9.
In his remarks, Ko cited Bitcoin’s potential to become a hedge amid global economic risks and urged Taiwan to recognize the cryptocurrency alongside gold and foreign exchange reserves to boost its financial resilience.
Ko’s announcement came shortly after the legislator held talks with Samson Mow, who advocates for Bitcoin adoption by states like El Salvador at his BTC tech firm Jan3.
Taiwan is an export-oriented economy
Ko highlighted that Taiwan is an export-driven economy that has experienced significant fluctuations in its national currency, the New Taiwan dollar, amid global inflation and intensifying geopolitical risks.
“We currently have a gold reserve of 423 metric tons, and our foreign exchange reserves amount to $577 billion, including investments in US Treasury bonds,” the lawmaker stated.
In a scenario of more intense currency volatility or potential regional conflicts, Taiwan may “very likely be unable to ensure the security and liquidity,” Ko continued, adding that Bitcoin could be a great addition to Taiwan’s reserves for several reasons.
“Bitcoin has been operating for over 15 years. It has a fixed total supply, is decentralized, and is resistant to censorship. Many countries are focusing on its hedging attributes. At the same time, in intense situations, it may not face the risk of embargo,” he said.
Bitcoin is not the only solution
Referring to many global initiatives considering Bitcoin adoption as a reserve asset, Ko stressed that he’s not advocating for Bitcoin as the “only solution” to rising economic challenges.
Instead, the legislator suggested adding a “small proportion of Bitcoin” into the diversified assets as tools for sovereign asset allocation and risk hedging, and backup capacity of Taiwan’s financial system.
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He previously suggested that Taiwan could allocate a maximum of 5% of its $50 billion reserve to Bitcoin in an X post on May 6.
“When exchange rate risk and regional uncertainty increase, it is time to introduce new tools to construct a more flexible financial strategy framework,” Ko said, adding:
“As former Dean Chen Chong said, Bitcoin is the gun of the digital era. It may also be the gold of the digital era, the silver of the digital era. Or it could be gunpowder. A wise nation will not let weapons be in others’ hands.”
The news comes as Taiwan is emerging as a crypto-friendly jurisdiction, with the Financial Supervisory Commission pushing institutional trials of crypto custody services in late 2024.
Mainland China continues to maintain its hostile stance on cryptocurrency after imposing a ban on multiple crypto activities, including mining, in 2021.
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