This grubby idea must be fought at all costs
Hclubs seeking European breakaway are motivated by greed and self-interest, and must be held to account
Self-interest. Cynicism. Opportunism. Arrogance. Greed. It is typical of what drives the biggest European clubs and, unfortunately with the largest cohort from the Premier League, that a declaration of war was made on the eve of when there was supposed to be peace.
Instead of heralding a new Champions League and a unified front, Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin is in danger of looking like football’s version of Neville Chamberlain waving his piece of paper and declaring “peace in our time”.
In fairness, Ceferin probably knew this was coming – or at least some form of it – because it has never gone away and the response from Uefa, from the European leagues and from the Football Association could not have been stronger. Neither could the condemnation. At least we have to take some heart from that.
But then the signatories to the breakaway European super league could not have picked a worse time. It is the height of cynicism and has been met with anger, condemnation and threats, but no surprise.
By signing up, Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City have joined clubs from Spain and Italy to take advantage of the uncertainty caused by the coronavirus pandemic to do one thing: look after themselves. How venal is that?
The proposed, newly designed 36-team Champions League was already a bloated, money-driven contest, but now faces being wrecked. Not just it, but, quite feasibly, football as we know it. This is the greatest threat it has ever faced.
There is only one reason why and, of course, that reason was why the Champions League was created in the first place – money. That £300million-plus carrot just to join a breakaway league appears to have been too attractive to some who have involved themselves in side-room bartering.
But this is now anti-competitive monopolism and it is no surprise that its drivers are Real Madrid president Florentino Perez and the American owners of United, Liverpool and Arsenal, as well as Juventus president Andrea Agnelli.
The signatories do not appear interested in being in a contest, or in the health of football. Grass roots? Let’s scorch them. The pyramid? Let’s demolish it. Instead, it is about protecting their own revenues and removing the thing that makes sport so appealing – any element of uncertainty.
Make no mistake, the “Big Six” worry more about interlopers – such as Leicester City – than they do about each other. They want to remove any element of randomness, and that extends to the Champions League.
Of course, as has happened in the past, there could well be a strong element of sabre-rattling and, in any case, we had reached a point of now or never for the rebels. They will reason they had to make their move and it is the most aggressive and effective way of driving the changes they want which, again, will undoubtedly settle on a bigger piece of the pie and more money.
They will argue that they have suffered like everyone in the pandemic, it would be negligent not to drive for a better deal and Uefa does stand accused of complacency when it comes to the most marketable club competition in the world. But just look after yourself?
Whatever happened to the concept of being on the right side of history when it comes to a crisis?
The Uefa leadership is plotting a fightback. It has been talking to the main European leagues and will be pleased by the unified response. They can fight fire with fire and the threat of banishing teams from next season’s Champions League and the domestic leagues – the Premier League would have to sanction any breakaway – is real. Fifa also has to stick to its warning that players will be prevented from taking part in the World Cup if they go along with this.
The leagues – Premier League, La Liga, Serie A – must stay strong alongside Uefa. Few fans of those involved want a breakaway. There is already a strong constituency of opposition, and that is without examining any legal recourse.
The clubs not involved have to issue their own rebuttals. The Big Six, for example, could face points deductions for their plotting alone. At the very least, they need to come clean. There has been too much politicking, plotting, sidemeetings, implicit threats. Let’s get this all out in the open.
It has become tiresome and damaging. As Uefa said, it is little more than a “cynical project” that needs to be quashed.
“Enough is enough,” Uefa concluded and, without being too xenophobic, if the owners of these clubs, with United and Liverpool appearing to be at the vanguard, cannot accept the competitions they are in then maybe they should sell up and stick to others sports more in line with their thinking and more in line with the idea of operating a closed shop. Leave football as it is.
The ‘Big Six’ worry more about interlopers, such as Leicester City, than they do about each other