CULTURE Secretary Oliver Dowden has warned the Government could take action if the Premier League and the EFL are unable to come to an agreement to get through the pandemic.

Dowden said he was “quite sceptical” about the Project Big Picture plan unveiled at the weekend, which includes plans to reduce the number of teams from 20 to 18. There are also plans to scrap the league cup and Community Shield.

He told Sky News:”If we keep having these backroom deals and all these other things going on we will have to look again at the underlying governance of football.

“We promised in the (general election) manifesto a fan-led review and I must say the events I have seen the past few weeks have made this seem more urgent again.

“Unless the Premier League and the EFL can get together urgently in order to support the game through this difficult period of time it does raise genuine questions about the governance of the sport.”

Forest Green chairman Dale Vince says the proposed changes to Premier League voting rights “stands out as a bit of a power grab” and says changing the rules to a simple majority vote would be the fairest way.

He said: “This has got some questionable elements - it’s not perfect but they might just be negotiating points.

“The bit I’m thinking of is the proposal for six big clubs in the Premier League to dominate the voting. If that was a simple majority that would be an improvement on where we are today where it takes 14 out of 20 to pass any change.

“That is the part that people are railing against as far as I can see. It stands out as a bit of a power grab - we’ll give with one hand but take something a little bit bigger with the other.”

Downing Street condemned the “backroom dealing” involved in Project Big Picture.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “It’s clear that this proposal does not command support throughout the Premier League.“It is exactly this type of backroom dealing that undermines trust in football governance. We would urge the Premier League and the EFL to continue to work constructively to come up with a deal that provides a comprehensive package for the whole football family.”