Recognising the Work of Realgrassroots

That the Parliament recognises what it sees as the hard work over a period of more than 15 years by Realgrassroots and the Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland in seeking to ensure the safety and protection of young footballers while contracted to senior football clubs; commends the Public Petitions Committee on its report, PE1319: Improving youth football in Scotland, which was published in June 2020 and was based on more than a decade of hearing evidence from a wide range of stakeholders throughout Scottish football; reiterates its support for the committee's recommendations, in particular on registration and compensation; notes the committee's reported criticisms of the Scottish Football Association (SFA) and Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) regarding what it sees as their apparent unwillingness to address some issues within Scottish football in a timely and effective manner; is disappointed that the committee's recommendations have, it believes, still not been fully accepted or implemented by the SFA and SPFL; notes with concern reports that the rules of the SFA and SPFL may breach competition law and that complaints have been filed with the Competition and Markets Authority; urges both the SFA and SPFL to comply fully with the committee's recommendations, and with the calls made by Realgrassroots and the Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland to ensure the protection of Scotland's young players from any unfair or unlawful practices, and calls on the Scottish Government to pause any further funding for the SFA until it is satisfied that the committee’s recommendations have been implemented and any anti-competitive practices have ended.