Holloway is ‘outraged’ at ‘selfish’ clubs
IAN Holloway has reacted with disgust at plans for a European Super League, blasting as ‘selfish’ the 12 clubs involved in the closed-shop competition, writes James Piercy.
The Premier League’s ‘Big Six’ – Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham – have confirmed they are forming a breakaway competition that would effectively replace the Champions League.
The tournament would have 15 of its 20 spots permanently fixed for “founding clubs”, removing promotion or relegation, and ensuring a consistent yearly income of around £300m a year while they continue to compete in their respective domestic leagues, deepening the financial imbalance.
Former Bristol Rovers stalwart Holloway says that the clubs are motivated purely by greed.
He told talkSPORT: “I don’t know about you, but I spent time watching the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral at the weekend and for the first time in a long time I was really proud to be British and this morning that’s just gone away.
“That man was so selfless in his life, and I wanted us to come out of this pandemic caring about other people more than ourselves and the opposite is happening.
“I am outraged, absolutely disgusted in how selfish some people can be. The game belongs to supporters, not them, and I’ve never seen anything like it.”
FIFA, UEFA and the Premier League look powerless to the whims of the respective owners of the big clubs.
UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin confirmed yesterday that any players taking part in the Super League will be prohibited from competing in European Championships and the World Cup, but are those sanctions strong enough?
“Who is actually in charge? That’s the worrying thing for me,” Holloway added. “Action needs to be taken. It’s not good enough to just say ‘You can’t do it’.
“It’s not strong enough, they should be relieved of their positions, stripped of their clubs.
“A fit and proper owner? Is this how people see football going? It doesn’t make sense. The biggest worry is, if you’re getting £3billion a year and not getting relegated, you’re going to want to do it.
“But what is football about? It’s about believing you can be better and catch the people who are the best. That’s what football is about.
“Life’s about trying to get somewhere, not about someone telling you that you can’t get there.”