Europe’s elite are shafting the poor so enjoy Leicester while you can
clubs that have had the temerity to be successful recently, with new money. Villarreal, down 14 places; Manchester City, 11th to 16th; Paris Saint- Germain, seventh to 10th; Napoli, 17th to 20th; Atletico Madrid, down one; Athletic Bilbao, down eight.
England’s representative in this grand carve-up was Gill and — surprise, surprise — Manchester United rise from 20th to 12th under the new system, despite failing to qualify for the Champions League in two of the last three seasons. How Gill is still regarded as a credible presence in football administration, heaven knows.
He recommended the Football Association back the discredited Michel Platini for UEFA president — and what a delight that he will speak at UEFA’s congress today, despite being banned from all football activity — and every move he makes seems to be for the financial benefit of the biggest clubs, and one in particular.
Manchester United made a pig’s ear of the succession to Sir Alex Ferguson, and have reached the last eight of the Champions League once since appearing in the final in 2011. But no matter. Along comes Gill to make it right, and ensure they stay above Manchester City in one table at least. City are 11th, United 20th in the current system. Thanks to Gill and his cohorts, United flip to 12th, City plummet to 16th.
And the chicanery does not stop there. Not only have Europe’s established order carved up the seedings, they have redistributed the money like latter- day Robin Hoods — if the Merry Men had dedicated their lives to shafting the poor to put a new wing on the Sheriff of Nottingham’s castle.
UEFA negotiate individually for television rights in each country. Obviously, a broadcaster in, say, Latvia cannot pay as much as one in Germany. So each country reaches a unique television deal and then the clubs from that country take a 40 per cent share of the rights. So English clubs claimed 40 per cent of the BT deal, while those from La Liga received the same cut of the contract with Atresmedia, TV3 and beIN SPORTS. Except football rights are at a premium in England.
SO THE BT deal accounted for £ 1billion of UEFA’s £ 2.4bn pot. And, with England claiming 40 per cent of that, it made the rest of Europe jealous.
So, in the new cycle of Champions League wealth distribution, the 40 per cent slice has been reduced to 15 per cent. That in itself is no bad thing. Wealth redistribution for European competition is long overdue. Far more money should go to each domestic league to keep the competition healthy.
It is ridiculous that UEFA’s largesse can as good as kill domestic football, as has been allowed to happen in countries such as Belarus where BATE Borisov are now close to unstoppable. But that is not how this is going to work. The other 85 per cent is going to be returned to the market pool of competing clubs and will be split according to — you guessed it — UEFA co-efficient.
So the big winners out of the English television deal will be those clubs who have been bumped up the table by historic success, plus the existing giants of the European game — deserving causes such as Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich.
Having struck inferior deals for their domestic product — because their greed has made their own leagues uncompetitive — they have redressed the balance by grabbing a slice of the Premier League wedge. But it’s not a renegotiation. It’s a heist. A perfect crime.
Just when new investment was threatening to level the field, as has happened in England, the wealthy established order have found a way of enhancing their status yet again.
They don’t even have to be good at football. Just good once. In black and white. On the way to their first European Cup final win over Benfica, Milan defeated Union Luxembourg (14-0), Ipswich (4-2), Galatasaray (8-1) and Dundee (5-2). They get co-efficient points for that feat now.
So it is a raid. A smash and grab cooked up by the traditional elite and their little helpers — men like Gill and Marchetti — to keep the rich richer, leave the poor poorer, and stop any new names making a claim for what they see as theirs by right. So Leicester should enjoy the sights of Bruges tonight.
From here, it is all stacked against them in a way it simply wasn’t in the Premier League last season. That’s why miracles still happen in English football — and carve-ups hold sway across UEFA’s Europe.