Euro Super League outrage is short sighted – and here’s why

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Euro Super League outrage is short sighted – and here’s why
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - JANUARY 19: Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville looks on during the Premier League match between Liverpool FC and Manchester United at Anfield on January 19, 2020 in Liverpool, United Kingdom. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)

The European Super League furore gathers momentum this morning, after an extraordinary 24 hours in the football world which saw Rangers win v Celtic, Mourinho fired, and that landscape-changing announcement from the top clubs in Europe.

Reaction has been almost entirely universal of condemnation, to call out greed and treachery, not to mention betrayal.

And yet, if one thing is greed and treachery, it’s the way football already runs.

The current format for the Champions League has separated rich and poor for over 25 years – only a small elite has any chance of winning, and as they get richer, the small teams get poorer.

Indeed, the Champions League and the Premier League can only be won by a small group of teams, a group of teams who monopolised the revenue of these competitions for themselves.

And UEFA were not only complicit, they ensured it happened – they didn’t enforce punishment against rule-breaking and they left PSG, City, Bayern et al to get richer while giving no influence to the smaller teams.

In short, the governing bodies are corrupt, and the Premier League isn’t much better. Money swills in England’s top flight like no other league. No one aside an aberration of Leicester can win the PL, no one in fact can get close to that.

All based on money. Liverpool and Man City bought their way to the title. A world in which £150M is now normal for a player.

So hey presto, a new world order shows up threatening this cushy status quo, this elitist club, something which could shake up the world of football and actually benefit smaller clubs, and the football world reacts with outrage, citing that treachery and greed.

If the big six get axed from the PL, the spotlight is not only on the smaller clubs, who will themselves grow, it gives Rangers a pathway in the PL, and the Champions League itself is forced either to change or disband.

The CL hasn’t even been about champions since about 95, it’s been about money – this is just a new threat to the existing suits and they don’t like it.

Ignore Gary Neville, he’s short-sighted – all he can see is ‘the fans’ – but the fans will benefit from their clubs growing now in a way they couldn’t with the elite clubs taking all the limelight.

In short? This new development will shake football up big time, and it’s those with most to lose that are the most angry – including Neville. He’s invested a lot of money, and he’d lose out with this.

There’s nothing wrong with a shake up – and one which may actually benefit the world of football is not one we dismiss.

Regardless of whether everyone seems to hate it or not.

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2 COMMENTS

  1. This new suggestion of a Super League should seriously be considered as a change for a lot of good reasons like allowing more real competition from those clubs that are never going to win the EPL the Champions League . If you remove those named 12 Teams it would allow those financially lesser teams to flourish as real challengers for those leagues and CL . It would have a little fairy story like but if UEFA really wanted to impact World Football then putting a ceiling on wages and players valuations for example, that would have been real news with impact. The EPL is tedious at times to really predictably boring, overs years it’s become a predictable procession . The English Championship is a much more level and competitive league.

  2. I’m not sure I follow the argument here. You seem to be implying that if the EPL lost their 6 top clubs then the rest would thrive with competition at a more achievable level. This indeed may make the league more competitive but would it be more watchable? I have no interest in watching Crystal Palace against Burnley or Everton against Southampton. A 100 metre sprint between two 70 year olds would be very competitive but it would a rubbish watch.
    There is a simple solution for UEFA/FIFA regarding this proposal:
    1. A life time ban for any manager or player that takes part.
    2. Kick out participating clubs from their national leagues.
    3. Refuse to do any business with any TV company that shows the Super League matches.
    4. Organise a fan boycott of matches, merchandise etc.

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