By Andrew Warshaw
October 31 – In an era of belt-tightening and battening down the hatches, the Premier League general secretary, Nic Coward, makes no apologies for promoting the brand of the most popular product in world football.
Coward is one of the key speakers at the upcoming International Football Arena (IFA) in Zurich and will use the opportunity to rebuff any suggestion that the Premier League is getting too big for its boots.
Coward has had a distinguished career in sports administration having served as chief executive at both the British Horseracing Board and Horseracing Regulatory Authority before becoming chief executive of the new merged governing and regulatory body, the British Horseracing Authority, in 2007.
A qualified solicitor, he joined the Football Association full-time, having been an adviser, in 1996, and took on a variety of roles before leaving in 2004.
Now playing one of the most prominent roles at the Premier League, Nic has experience on both sides of the fence and can therefore provide critical analysis of the club-versus-country issue that dominates the game.
Naturally he is proud of the Premier League’s stature and will be focussing in part in Zurich on a recent report that sets out the compelling attraction of English football overseas.
But he also looking forward to hearing what other leagues have to say.
“I won’t be standing up and saying the Premier League model is the one everyone should adopt,” he said.
“We give fans across the world what they want but we are keen to hear from others on their ideas.”
Some of them might take the view that the Premier League, for all its global exposure, has reached the point of saturation and Coward seems likely to take a number of questions on the issue of financial fair play.
“We have always said that no one would ever argue with the principles of financial fair play,” he said.
“Living within your means is absolutely right.
“I’m not saying there won’t be issues coming through in the weeks and months.
“But there is a lot of time to go for it to be worked through.”
He is fully aware of recent reports suggesting Sky could lose its live coverage of Premier League football to the Arab TV channel Al Jazeera, owned by the Qatari royal family.
The station is reported to be contemplating a bid but Coward, who is a past master at couching his replies in diplomatic language, declined to get drawn into that particular debate either.
“There will be tender process and I’m sure an awful lot of speculation,” he said.
He seems bound to be asked at the IFA, however, about the suggestion that English clubs could negotiate their own overseas television deals on an individual basis rather than collectively.
Again, in order not to reveal too much ahead of the IFA, he played the straightest of bats.
“Our view is clear – the revenue distribution formula is as it is,” he said.
IFA Zurich 2011 takes place on November 7 and 8 at the Dolder Grand Hotel, Zurich.
To find out how to attend please click here.
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