I thought from when the news broke that this was a final throw of the dice by some of the richer clubs to get a bit more influence in the governance of football. The ‘big six’ in England were all angry that the PL did not sanction the use of 5 substitutions to alleviate the compressed nature of this season and they latched onto the plan probably formulated by Perez . When it became obvious that UEFA, buoyed by fake disgust from their partners in crime,Sky, opportunism from politicians, and very real anger of supporters, were not going to give an inch the plan became untenable. Chelsea and City,who already get away with so much without meaningful sanctions from UEFA, almost immediately backed away and I am very surprised that we didn’t as well. Perhaps we thought we would get unbiased referees. UEFA did say there was still time to step away so I would not expect any sanction from them and I can’t see the PL taking action against their favoured ones. All will go quiet for another five years until hatred of UEFA rears it’s head again and we go through the whole farce once again, but possibly with a different outcome.
What really needs to be said is the whole thing didn't come overnight July 2009 - Perez first floats/threatens a European Super League, with Arsene Wenger voicing support for the venture (among others) March 2016 - representatives of Man Utd, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea and The Sheikh Manor Team met with representatives of Stephen M Ross to discuss proposals of an ESL August 2016 - UEFA discuss the possibility of a closed league of 16 teams divided into two groups to play a 56 game season, which was rejected in favour of rejigging the Champions League format November 2018 - Football Leaks claims there had been secret talks about an ESL, planned to begin in 2021 October 2020 - FIFA propose an 18 team closed league with no relegation, with Barcelona agreeing to join - and, the next day, Josep Bartomeu resigned as Barca president. All six federations (UEFA, CONMEBOL, CONCACAF, CAF, AFC, OFC) reject the proposal in January 2021
So can newsreaders go back to using the phrase "greedy elitists" when describing Tory corruption now? Or, you know, report about Tory corruption, which they seem to have forgotten about since Sunday night?
Almost right but wrong. Like with so many of your players no one will pay the asking price, doesn't mean can't afford
“We believe that we should never stand still”. ...remind me why we signed no new players for how long, Daniel?!
I'm curious, and I may get tomatoes thrown at me for this. Feel free. Those wishing for ENIC to sell up. Who do you imagine would buy? Do you not think, especially in this climate, that they would likely be even more greedy and profit driven? I don't particularly love Levy or Lewis, but I do think that we should be careful what we wish for. I personally don't trust that the next hungry capitalists would be more caring for the club than Levy/Lewis. Just a thought.
If it is not clear to people now what allowing the ownership of clubs to be in private hands risks then it never will be. Steps should be taken to make sure majority shareholding is with the fans along the lines of the German model. It's not difficult to do this if the politicians are of the mind to make it happen. The FA won a couple of bonus points in my eyes by threatening to expel the 6 but this is the same FA that founded the PL in the first place and thus created the monster that has just poked it's head out of the water. The ESL made the mistake of not getting the media, in the shape of Sky and BT on board, next time they try they will not make that mistake. This will not go away unless clear legislation is put in place to put the power where it should be, in the hands of the fans.
Yeah I’m not prepared to think the PL are saints...the corrupt bastards can’t even sort their referees out for the integrity of the game. As bad as idea as it was...all these clubs and organisations crying all day yesterday jump at the chance of grabbing more money. This same PL can’t quite decide for over a year now wether a journalist murdering sheik should be allowed to invest in a football club. hypocrites the lot of them
I applaud the sentiment but it's not consistent with the principles that capitalism depends on. Perhaps we can use football to persuade people that free markets are never in the interests of ordinary people. Let's extend the idea to supermarkets, railways, utilities etc being owned by their customers.