European Super league

[danmand]

European Super League: Uefa and Premier League condemn 12 major clubs signing up to breakaway plans
By Simon StoneBBC Sport
Last updated on43 minutes ago43 minutes ago.From the sectionEuropean Football8686

Liverpool and Chelsea are understood to be part of the group that have signed up to a breakaway league
Uefa, the Premier League and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson have condemned 12 major European clubs, including the 'big six' from England, signing up to a breakaway European Super League.
Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham are part of the group.

La Liga's Atletico Madrid, Barcelona and Real Madrid and Serie A's AC Milan, Inter Milan and Juventus are involved.
Uefa said it will use "all measures" possible to stop the "cynical project".
Senior figures at European football's governing body are furious about the proposals.

Dion Dublin & Danny Murphy discuss the plans for a European Super League
Johnson said the plans would be "very damaging for football" and that the UK government supports the sport's authorities "in taking action".
He added: "The clubs involved must answer to their fans and the wider footballing community before taking any further steps."
The European Clubs' Association (ECA), which represents Europe's clubs, held an emergency meeting on Sunday in the wake of the reports.
BBC Sport understands none of the clubs mentioned in the Super League reports responded to a request to attend the meeting.
The meeting was chaired by Ajax chief executive Edwin van der Sar. Bayern Munich and Paris St-Germain were among the clubs who were present.
In a statement the ECA said it would be "strongly opposed" to a "closed super league model".
It has pushed plans for a 36-team Champions League, which Uefa had hoped would head off the formation of a Super League. The Champions League reforms are set to be confirmed on Monday.
BBC Sport was told last week of plans for some sort of confirmation about a European Super League.
Uefa released a joint statement, together with England's Football Association, the Premier League, the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), La Liga, and the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) as well as Serie A, on Sunday.
They said they will "remain united" in trying to stop the breakaway, using both judicial and sporting measures if required.
They also reiterated Fifa's stance that players taking part in the Super League would be banned from all other competitions at domestic, European or world level and could be prevented from representing their national teams.
In a separate statement, the Premier League said it condemned the proposal as it "attacks the principles of open competition and sporting merit which are at the heart" of domestic and European football.
Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said in a statement the government is "concerned this plan could create a closed shop at the very top of our national game".
He added: "We have a football pyramid where funds from the globally successful Premier League flow down the leagues and into local communities.

A European Super League: The future of football?
"I would be bitterly disappointed to see any action that destroys that."
Labour leader Keir Starmer said the clubs involved should "rethink immediately" or "face the consequences of their actions".
"This proposal risks shutting the door on fans for good, reducing them to mere spectators and consumers," he said.
Juventus owner Andrea Agnelli, Manchester United executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward and AC Milan chief executive Ivan Gazidis would all have had a significant input into the Champions League discussions on Friday.
However, those clubs are among those to have broken ranks, to the fury of Uefa, whose president Aleksander Ceferin wanted to stave off a Super League threat.
The Premier League said a European Super League would "destroy" the dream of fans that "their team may climb to the top and play against the best".
It added such a league would "undermine the appeal of the whole game" and that they would work with the FA, the English Football League, Professional Footballers' Association (PFA), League Managers Association (LMA) and fans to "defend the integrity and future prospects of English football".

Juventus and AC Milan have signed up to the breakaway league plans
The FA said it will "not provide permission to any competition that would be damaging to English football" and will "take any legal and/or regulatory action necessary" to stop it.
Bundesliga sides are opposed to the plans because the German model means commercial investors cannot have more than a 49% stake in clubs, so fans hold a majority of their own voting rights.
French Ligue 1 side Paris St-Germain are not part of the group either.
Uefa said it thanked "those clubs in other countries, especially the French and German clubs, who have refused to sign up" to the breakaway league.
"We call on all lovers of football, supporters and politicians, to join us in fighting against such a project if it were to be announced," it added.
"This persistent self-interest of a few has been going on for too long. Enough is enough."
Quite when the European Super League would start is unclear.
However, world governing body Fifa has already said it would not recognise such a competition and any players involved in it would be denied the chance to play at a World Cup.
Serie A has called an emergency board meeting to discuss the matter.
The Football Supporters' Association said it is "totally opposed" to the plans, which it said were "motivated by nothing but cynical greed".
It added: "This competition is being created behind our backs by billionaire club owners who have zero regard for the game's traditions and continue to treat football as their personal fiefdom."
The PFA said it had "substantial concerns" about the proposal, adding it would "detract from the strength and joy of domestic football and diminish the game for the vast majority of fans across the continent".
France's President Emmanuel Macron said he "welcomes the position of French clubs to refuse to participate" in a European Super League "that threatens the principle of solidarity and sporting merit".
A statement from the French presidency added: "The French state will support all the steps taken by the LFP [France's professional leagues governing body], FFF [France's football association], Uefa and Fifa to protect the integrity of federal competitions, whether national or European."
It has been agreed the new-look Champions League will involve an initial phase where every club plays 10 matches each rather than the current group phase.
In addition there would be play-offs, followed by a knockout phase.
The most controversial aspect of the proposals surround the allocation of the four additional places, with two being reserved for the clubs ranked highest in Uefa's co-efficient table who fail to qualify for the Champions League through their domestic competition, but do secure some kind of European football.
At the moment, Liverpool and Chelsea would be the clubs who benefited from that system if it was in place this season.
'An absolute disgrace'
Former Manchester United captain Gary Neville said he is "absolutely disgusted" by the plans.
"I'm a Manchester United fan and have been for 40 years," Neville, who also co-owns League Two club Salford City, told Sky Sports. "It's an absolute disgrace.
"Honestly, we have to wrestle back the power in this country from the clubs at the top of this league and that includes my club."
The former England defender said the six English clubs involved should be docked points and fined.
"It's pure greed," Neville said. "They're [the club's owners] imposters.
"They're nothing to do with football in this country. There's 100-odd years of history in this country of fans who have lived and loved these clubs.
"We're in the middle of a pandemic and an economic crisis. Football clubs in the [semi-professional] National League are going bust, furloughing players and these lot are having Zoom calls about breaking away.
"Dock them all points tomorrow. Put them at the bottom of the league and take the money off them. Seriously. You have to stamp on this."

 

[mandrill]

Big European soccer teams announce breakaway league

The clubs say the league is due to start in August.

www.axios.com

 

[mandrill]

Question: - Does the move actually change anything in English soccer, where the 6 super-teams largely dominate the sport anyway?

Sure, there's an upstart or two each season and it competes for 2 or 3 years and then slides back down into the mud. But the Super Six are perennially dominant due to massively greater resources.

 

[asuran]

It's all about money and power.

We'll see which side have more leverage in the coming days.

 

[Insidious Von]

It's been discussed for decades but this became the turning point.

 

[danmand]

EURO 20 will be different if players from these clubs are excluded.

Let us see what the 12 clubs will do if FIFA excludes them from all international competitions.

I guess the Super league is modelled on the American model of monopoly sport businesses. But it is a huge departure from the football structure in Europe, where there is a hierarchy of levels from the top clubs all the way down to amateur clubs.

It really is a break from tradition and the idealism of sport competitions.

 

[kstanb]

This will destroy soccer as we know it.

I would hate to see soccer going down the "franchise" American model,

but I doubt they will succeed, most players dream about the world cup, and getting banned from it, and getting banned from national competitions will in the longer run reduce their market value

 

[Insidious Von]

This was tried before when the NASL though they could break away from FIFA.

Star players like Franz Beckenbauer and Johan Cruyff were banned from the 1978 WC. Eventually the NASL withered without support from FIFA, eventually it folded in 1984. Which was a shame since some good clubs were beginning to develop. When MLS was launched they decided that it was best to co-operate, not confront FIFA.

Even Dicks take part!

 

[danmand]

'Super league a disgraceful self-serving proposal' - UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin
April 19, 2021 9:05 AM
A plan for a breakaway Super League, launched by 12 leading European clubs, is a "disgraceful self-serving proposal from a select few clubs purely fueled by greed", UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin said on Monday.
The head of European football's governing body said it was "a spit in the face of all football lovers" and reaffirmed that players from clubs involved would be banned from representing their national teams and therefore unable to take part in European Championships or World Cups.

 

[danmand]

"It's A Money Grab" - JPMorgan-Backed European Soccer 'Super League' Sparks Global Fury

MONDAY, APR 19, 2021 - 08:58 AM
12 of world football's soccer's biggest and richest clubs announced Sunday they've formed a breakaway European "Super League" - with clubs Manchester United, Liverpool, Barcelona Real Madrid, Juventus and A.C. Milan among those to sign up. No German or French clubs have yet to be associated with the breakaway.
The breakaway league is due to start in August.

As Reuters reports, the clubs would share a fund of 3.5 billion euros ($4.19 billion) to spend on infrastructure projects and to deal with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The money would not be available to spend on players.

“We will help football at every level and take it to its rightful place in the world. Football is the only global sport in the world with more than four billion fans and our responsibility as big clubs is to respond to their desires,” said Real Madrid president Florentino Perez, the first chairman of the Super League.

The move sets up a rival to UEFA’s established Champions League competition and was condemned by football authorities and political leaders.
UEFA issued a strong statement jointly with English, Spanish, and Italian leagues and football federations, saying they were ready to use “all measures” to confront any breakaway and saying any participating clubs would be banned from domestic leagues, such as the Premier League.

“The clubs concerned will be banned from playing in any other competition at domestic, European, or world level, and their players could be denied the opportunity to represent their national teams,” UEFA said.
“We thank those clubs in other countries, especially the French and German clubs, who have refused to sign up to this. We call on all lovers of football, supporters, and politicians, to join us in fighting against such a project if it were to be announced. This persistent self-interest of a few has been going on for too long. Enough is enough.”

World soccer’s governing body FIFA expressed its “disapproval to a ‘closed European breakaway league’ outside of the international football structures”.
French President Emmanuel Macron and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson both issued statements condemning a breakaway and supporting UEFA’s position.

“The president of the republic welcomes the position of French clubs to refuse to participate to a European football Super League project that threatens the principle of solidarity and sporting merit,” the French presidency said in a statement sent to Reuters.

“Plans for a European Super League would be very damaging for football and we support football authorities in taking action,” Johnson wrote on Twitter.
“They would strike at the heart of the domestic game, and will concern fans across the country. The clubs involved must answer to their fans and the wider footballing community before taking any further steps.”

JPMorgan is bankrolling this biggest upheaval of European soccer since the 1950s in a 4 billion-euro ($4.8 billion) bet that has already drawn heavy criticism from fans, domestic leagues and politicians.
As Bloomberg reports, the clubs have signed a binding agreement to commit to remaining part of the Super League for a set number of years, according to people with knowledge of the agreement. The binding agreement was a key driver behind JPMorgan’s investment, the people added.
The financing from JPMorgan has been set at an interest rate of between 2% and 3%, and set over a 23-year time frame, one of the people added.

Finally, as Unherd.com's Paul Marshall writes, portraying the feelings of many followers of the 'beautiful game', The European Super League is a betrayal of clubs and communities...
There are many ironies to the plans for a European Super League. There is the inclusion of Arsenal, who have never won the Champions League, and on the day of the announcement stormed to a 1-1 draw with Fulham, cementing their position in ninth place in the Premier League. And Tottenham, who have never won the Champions League, never won the Premier League, and last lifted its predecessor, the First Division, in 1961. Or what about the exclusion of Leicester City — who won the Premier League in 2016 and have just qualified for the Final of the FA Cup — as well as Nottingham Forest, who have won the top European elite competition two times more than Arsenal and Spurs put together.
But the biggest irony is the attempt by a bunch of American owners to create a closed shop in European football. In the interest of money-making and in the name of laissez-faire capitalism, they want to drive competition out of European sport.
For those who never quite understood the motivations of the Glazers, John Henry or Stan Kroenke, the key is the parallel (or lack of parallel) between the Premier League and the way American sports operate. The American owners of Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal have always dreamed of replicating American conditions on European soil — and thus replicating the riches of NFL and Major League Baseball owners. The Glazers have done very well out of their NFL franchise, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and John Henry out of the Boston Red Sox.
But American rules are very different from European ones. Professional sports leagues in North America operate with a fixed number of teams, known as franchises. The franchisees have territorial rights, usually covering a large metropolitan area exclusively. New teams may enter the competition only by a vote of current members. The leagues operate in a closed system and do not have to contend with the inconvenience of promotion or relegation. Very occasionally a league may decide to grow by admitting a new team, the last new team to join the NFL being the Houston Texans in 2002.
There is another fundamental difference between American sports and European football, and that is the way the transfer markets work. New players out of college in America are recruited through an annual draft. This is scrupulously fair, even egalitarian. The NFL draft is seven rounds long, with each team getting a pick in each round, in reverse order of the finish of that season. The worst team picks first, the second worst next and the champion picks last. But there is also a salary cap, which places a limit on the amount of money a team can spend on salaries.
Although the original intention of this may have been to level the playing field, the effect has been to enrich the owners in a closed system where the surplus can only go to the owners or the players. The problem in Europe is that there is no cap on footballers’ salaries so that the players get to keep much more of the surplus. It also leads to a free-for-all in the transfer market, with new teams constantly vying to enter the top leagues and new owners trying to pour in money, which they can spend freely on transfers in order to buy success.
With precious few rules around ownership and suitability, the Premier League is a constant lure to questionable money, whether it be Middle Eastern sheiks or Russian kleptocrats, who know that with a big enough budget they can buy the top players and secure the prestige which comes with success. Cue Manchester City and Chelski, the parvenus of the Premier League.
The lack of entry barriers is not specific to Europe — there are plenty of new owners in the US, too. The difference is that in Europe, without any restrictions, owners with enough money can be almost assured of getting their hands on a trophy — and this is what brings us to the closed shop “Super League” proposed by the Group of Six. It is a protectionist money grab intended to ossify a momentary status quo in the interests of the current owners, preventing even richer club-owners from muscling in.
And of course it is much worse than that. Football clubs are not just capitalist enterprises. Indeed they should not be seen as capitalist enterprises at all. The leading clubs have illustrious histories — some, like Liverpool and Manchester United, with more than a share of tragedy, redemption and heroism. Clubs have souls. They play in a certain way. Manchester United always have brilliant wingers, and the No 7 is a hallowed shirt. Great Liverpool teams are built on a bedrock of dominant central defenders.
Football clubs have their origins in working men’s clubs or factory teams, bringing together their local communities in shared support of their local side. In areas which have seen the downsides of globalisation, they are one of the last great symbols and anchors of local community, even if some have become global brands. They represent the sense of place. They enrich and unite their towns and cities. They give local pride.
This is no doubt why the German clubs have refused to take part. With its 50+1 model, the Bundesliga has created a much more balanced model for football club ownership, trying to achieve a balance between staying competitive financially while preserving the association with and respect for the local supporters.
It is no surprise that Boris Johnson came out so quickly against the Super League proposal. He may not be a football fan, but he understands intuitively that this is about much more than the game. It is about the ties that bind. It is also about the globalisation debate that defined Brexit. Unfortunately it may not be sufficient for the Prime Minister just to tweet on this.
I bear the scars of trying to challenge the Glazer takeover of Manchester United, through the Green and Gold campaign and the Red Knights. There is no way of regaining control of the club unless the owners want to sell, and the Glazers acquired control through a legitimate takeover process (albeit by saddling the club with huge debts). Private markets cannot rescue English clubs and it is fairly clear that the Premier League have no intention of challenging the current ownership model.
The only hope is that the latest proposal triggers a long-overdue review of football ownership rules in the UK, one that reconnects football clubs with their supporters, protects local communities and deters the predators from the other side of the Atlantic.

 

[saxon]

Super league is fighting back with lawsuits of their own.

 

[danmand]

Super league is fighting back with lawsuits of their own.

That is what you would expect from the American owners.

The reaction from most insiders is: "let them go and we will see them fail"

It will have a huge impact on EURO 20. Especially England will be screwed.

 

[kstanb]

What the American owners probably didn't expect was the European governments' having a say on this affair

BoJo is already involved and will try to block, Macron welcomed French clubs' refusal to participate

 

[jalimon]

I really hope the fans do not buy into it.

This would be a disaster for small clubs.

 

[danmand]

What the American owners probably didn't expect was the European governments' having a say on this affair

BoJo is already involved and will try to block, Macron welcomed French clubs' refusal to participate

Germany has rules that require 51% ownership of sports clubs by local fans.

 

[jalimon]

Has any players spoke out about this? They are usually quite loud mouth some should have publish their toughs?

 

[kstanb]

I doubt any "big one" will talk; lots of lawyers or PR guys will strongly advise or veto against talking

 

[danmand]

Has any players spoke out about this? They are usually quite loud mouth some should have publish their toughs?

As you would expect from capitalist owners, in the final analysis this is an attempt to control the salaries of the top players, which admittedly have gone crazy.

 

[scouser1]

Someone needs to explain to me on what planet are Spurs (no league title since 1951) a top European side? Man Utd havent won a title in a decade and Arsenal sit in 9th currently. FIFA and UEFA need to step in and say any player that takes part will be banned from the World Cup, Euro and Copa America thereby killing this nonsense immediately.

 

[danmand]

Someone needs to explain to me on what planet are Spurs (no league title since 1951) a top European side? Man Utd havent won a title in a decade and Arsenal sit in 9th currently. FIFA and UEFA need to step in and say any player that takes part will be banned from the World Cup, Euro and Copa America thereby killing this nonsense immediately.

They have said that.