Lord Triesman, the chairman of the Football Association, has said he will press for tougher rules on takeovers after admitting that the current regulations are inadequate. His comments follow those of Andy Burnham, the minister for culture, media and sport, who said in a speech yesterday that the FA needed to act urgently so football does not lose its core supporters.

Triesman appears ready to do just that. "Fans want to know their loyalty and hard-earned money are not taken for granted," he said. "We want those who run our clubs to do so in the long-term interests of their financial health and sporting success rather than immediate return on investment.

"The distinction is between those who invest and respect the values of clubs, and those who are just shopping. It is hard to believe an owner who thinks it is all right to buy a 'world first XI' has grasped this fundamental point."

The last sentence appears to be a reference to the takeover by the Abu Dhabi United Group at Manchester City, with the club immediately bidding for players such as Dimitar Berbatov, David Villa and Robinho. Jamie Carragher has hit out at Liverpool's American owners, saying they see the club as "a moneymaking opportunity", but Triesman is at pains to stress that new regulations could not discriminate against foreign owners.

"Regulatory change in football must be fair. It cannot discriminate on the basis of nationality but it must be robust on the test of fitness to head our clubs ," he writes in today's Daily Telegraph. "It is early to judge the impact of foreign ownership, but looking at the balance today, it is hard to avoid the need to explore rapidly the case for better regulation."