Ranieri: It’s betrayal by foreigners

ITALIAN Claudio Ranieri has claimed English owners of big Premier League clubs would not have “betrayed” sport by backing the European Super League.

The abandoned plan could have stopped teams like Leicester City entering the ESL after their shock 2016 title win.

And Ranieri, who was axed at Chelsea by Roman Abramovich in 2004, said: “It would have been a huge injustice and an insult to the values of sport. But we are joking?

“You finish first in the richest and most competitive championship in the world and then in Europe they say to you, ‘Sorry, you can’t come in, you don’t have the right CV’. Madness. It is a betrayal of one of the fundamental principles of sport – meritocracy.

“In England, they are well aware of what are the basic laws of sport. I add one, in particular: the beauty of football rests in the fact that the poorest can always beat someone stronger.

“In other sports, except in particular circumstances, whoever has the best technical skills always wins.

“Bringing an American format to Europe? Another mistake.

The NBA is fantastic, but it is not football. And it does not seem a coincidence that behind the six Premier League clubs are foreign owners. With English owners, all this would not have happened.”

May 2 marks the fifth anniversary of Leicester’s 5,000-1 Premier League triumph when the big six were left trailing in their wake.

And Ranieri (below), now 69 and Sampdoria head coach, said the fairytale story showed the importance of football throughout society.

“Leicester’s season was extraordinary, not only from a sporting point of view, but also for the results achieved in integration between the two communities, English and Indian,” Ranieri told Gazzetta dello Sport.

“Leicester includes different cultures. Football has an enormous social value that cannot be trampled on by the delusions of grandeur of a small number of rich people unable to manage their wealth.

“My reflection is this: if you have mismanaged

100 lire, what will you do if you have a million in your pocket?”