WALES STARS FACE BAN IF SUPER-LEAGUE KICKS OFF
UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has confirmed players involved in the European Super League will be banned from playing in the European Championship and World Cup.
The announcement of the newly-formed breakaway competition has been met with widespread criticism from those who run the game in Europe.
Yesterday, Ceferin stated that UEFA were united in their stance against the proposals for the European Super League – which includes Premier League sides Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur.
Players including Gareth Bale, Joe Rodon, Ben Davies, Neco Williams, Daniel James, Dylan Levitt, Ben Woodburn, Aaron Ramsey, Matt Smith, Harry Wilson and Ethan Ampadu now face major uncertainty regarding their international futures.
And he has re-iterated that the governing body of European football will ban players from representing their country at major competitions if they take part in the Super League.
He said: “I cannot stress more strongly UEFA and the footballing world are united against the disgraceful, self-serving proposals we have seen, fuelled purely by greed. It’s a nonsense of a project.
“This idea is a spit in the face for all footballer lovers and our society. We will not allow them to take this away from us.”
And when asked if players could be banned as early as the Euro 2020 tournament, Ceferin responded: “We’re still assessing the situation with our legal team. It’s a bit too early.
“We will take all the sanctions that we can... and we will inform you as soon as we have a clear answer. My opinion is that, as soon as possible, the players have to be banned from all our competitions.”
In addition to opening up on the impending legal battle that will be required, Ceferin also launched an extraordinary attack on Manchester United executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward and Juventus’ former ECA [European Club Association] chairman Andrea Agnelli.
“I was a criminal lawyer for 24 years but I’ve never, ever, seen people like that,” said Ceferin.
“If I start with Ed Woodward, he called me last Thursday, saying that he’s very satisfied with reforms and he fully supports them. Obviously, he already signed something else.
“Andrea Agnelli is the biggest disappointment of all.”
Wales begin their Euro 2020 campaign against Switzerland on June 12 at the Olympic Stadium in Baku, Azerbaijan.
They then face Turkey on June 16 at the same venue before ending the group stage against Italy in Rome four days later.
THE proposed Super League could pose a “fundamental risk” to England’s football system, according to a finance expert at Deloitte.
Twelve clubs from England, Spain and Italy announced on Sunday that they plan to join a breakaway competition.
Tim Bridge of Deloitte’s Sports Business Group feels there is no going back from the statements, which came on the eve of a vote over a new format for the Champions League.
“There’s clearly something gone on within those discussions around reform of the Champions League that’s led to this position,” said Bridge.
“I’ve always felt as though it may have been used as a tool within negotiations but it feels as though we may be past that stage.
“There is a very clear statement, 12 clubs who are aligned – they’re 12 of the bigger clubs around Europe, the highest revenuegenerating, the most influential with the largest fanbases.
“They’ve made a very clear statement of intent and I don’t quite know how you go back from that.”
Reaction to the announcement was swift and overwhelmingly negative, with UEFA and the three countries’ leagues and football associations vowing to stop the new competition.
Football Supporters Europe, as well as individual fan groups from many of the clubs involved – including United, Liverpool, Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham – have also condemned the move.
Bridge acknowledged that will worry the clubs but admitted the appeal of the fixtures involved may override all other concerns.
He said: “Probably there will be an element of shock at the response of the European fanbase - I would certainly be concerned, if I was in the position of these clubs, at the way their core fans have reacted.
“I would imagine it feels very painful for those fans to see this decision being made at a point where it’s been 12 months since most fans went to a match.
“There may be enough confidence that the international market and fans all around the world will want to engage with this competition.
“If I sit here now and I think about Manchester United versus Barcelona at Old Trafford do I think that game will be sold out? Probably. Do I think it will be on global television? Yes, I do. And do I think there’ll be a clamour from sponsors to be associated with that type of game? Yes I do.
“So ultimately, I do see the business sense. However, there’s some fundamentals that I don’t understand.
“The fundamental risk of what this may do to the overall football system is one that I would have hoped is too big to not be considered.
“You could argue that the disparity between a club in the Premier League and League Two is too big but the reality is that the money a League Two club makes at the moment, a proportion of that comes through the Premier League, through a solidarity mechanism. This potentially changes that.
“Should those six clubs leave the Premier League, the value of English football suddenly falls because those six clubs do drive so much of that value.”