Premier League
- Thread starter Deanster
- Start date
Arsenal and Tottenham are interesting choices if they were claiming these are the best teams in Europe. Oh wait... Money
If this isn’t just some sort of negotiating ploy to wring more $$$$ out of the Champions League for the big clubs, this is going to get messy. There will be countless lawsuits and could get dragged out forever. If the clubs do carry on with it, I hope FIFA and the individual federations stick to their guns and basically declare these clubs and players that play for them persona non grata.
It will be interesting to see how this plays out. If the Premier League calls the bluff of the Big 6 and says they will not be welcome to compete in the PL, they will get their ass sued to high heaven by all the broadcasters who have paid ridiculous amounts for their TV rights deals.
It might end up being that the organizations with the most influence to push back will be UEFA and FIFA who can threaten to decertify any players that play for clubs in the Super League. Players having to decide to forgo competing for their national teams in the Euros and the World Cup looks like the only effective leverage.
It might end up being that the organizations with the most influence to push back will be UEFA and FIFA who can threaten to decertify any players that play for clubs in the Super League. Players having to decide to forgo competing for their national teams in the Euros and the World Cup looks like the only effective leverage.
Is anyone surprised that greedy American business schmucks are 60% of the organizing body behind this?
Will ruin European Football. I don’t want them to try and emulate the NBA.
I would like either of those "calls", but seems the second would be same as first - the broadcasters who paid for the World Cup will sue FIFA, etc. (And since UEFA runs Champions League and Euro 2020 they'd get sued by broadcasters of both). If they all dug in for a 2-year or 4-year cycle and scared the players away it could bomb like USFL...
...but seems they'll find a way to coexist. Lots of theatrical twists and turns over next few years to wear fans down but the 5 "play-in spots" to go with the 15 guaranteed (=these founding 12 + eventually (c'mon, they will join) PSG, Bayern, Dortmund (after their probably negotiated current stance of principled opposition)) will give UEFA/FIFA a fig-leaf of "competition" and allow them to "save face".
I just heard about this today... I’m hoping this is just a bluff to try and get UEFA to negotiate and maybe not expand the champions league as originally intended? Otherwise this should absolutely disgust every soccer fan.
My retort to this would be that the entire game is run by greed. Currently its the greed of UEFA and FIFA running things. FIFA is a "non-profit organization" that has somewhere in the realm of 1.5 Billion Euros in the bank. Some non-profit that is. UEFA and FIFA also happen to both have in the last 10 years, had multiple people of power (presidents/board members) accused of and found guilty of bribery and fraud. They are both corrupt organizations. The clubs existed before UEFA and FIFA existed, the clubs are what the fans are loyal to, why cant the clubs run their own competitions and cut out the greedy hands of UEFA/FIFA/the Premier League/etc.?
The Champions League expansion that is being announced is nothing more than a money grab by UEFA in the disguise of allowing more clubs (that have basically zero chance of advancing) into the group stages of the competition, meaning more games for all the clubs/players, more travel, and nobody benefits more than UEFA.
Since the Champions League began in 1992, those 12 clubs account for all the Champions League titles except for 7. Marseille (92-93), Ajax (94-95), Dortmund (96-97) (probably one of the additional 3 clubs that are joining), and Porto (03-04) and Bayern Munich (another of the additional 3 clubs probably joining) has won it 3 times. Only 4 other clubs have even made the final since 1992: Valencia (99-00 & 00-01), Bayer Leverkusen (01-02), Monaco (03-04), and PSG last season (the 3rd other rumored club to be joining).
Why should all these clubs continue bowing to the powers that be, when its the clubs that fans are loyal to, not the organizations? What is the Premier League without Liverpool, Man U, Man City, Chelsea, Arsenal and Spurs? What is La Liga without Real Madrid, Barca and Atletico? Those leagues cant afford to kick these teams out, the rest of the league would crumble, let alone the teams in the lower leagues without the revenue passed down.
I dont know how all this will play out, but I'm fascinated to see how it does.
You can argue that this is just massive organizations arguing over who gets to control billions of dollars, and I’m not going to sit here and pretend that FIFA and UEFA are model organizations that deserve respect. But the non- competitive nature that the founding members of the Super League are seeking to create flies in the face of everything that has been created throughout the history of European soccer. You should have to earn your spot in the pinnacle of European club soccer every year whether it’s called the Champions League or the Super League.
Arsenal is in ******* 9th in the PL right now and somehow they deserve a spot in the most elite soccer competition in the world for perpetuity? If you want to create a breakaway competition and try to sabotage UEFA and the CL, go for it, but creating a competition where 15 of the 20 spots never change and have zero to do with the quality of your squad from year to year is a joke. If this ends up happening, I hope the local fans of these clubs abandon their support and leave their teams to play in half empty stadiums with zero atmosphere.
I’m not singling out Arsenal because I have some anti-Gunner bias. I’m just trying to point out that even among the “Super Clubs” of Europe they have cyclical ups and downs. You should have to earn your way into European competition based on the quality of your squad from year to year. This is like saying the Dallas Cowboys get to have a spot in the NFL playoffs every year simply because they’re the Cowboys and they are historically a popular team.
Arsenal is in ******* 9th in the PL right now and somehow they deserve a spot in the most elite soccer competition in the world for perpetuity? If you want to create a breakaway competition and try to sabotage UEFA and the CL, go for it, but creating a competition where 15 of the 20 spots never change and have zero to do with the quality of your squad from year to year is a joke. If this ends up happening, I hope the local fans of these clubs abandon their support and leave their teams to play in half empty stadiums with zero atmosphere.
I’m not singling out Arsenal because I have some anti-Gunner bias. I’m just trying to point out that even among the “Super Clubs” of Europe they have cyclical ups and downs. You should have to earn your way into European competition based on the quality of your squad from year to year. This is like saying the Dallas Cowboys get to have a spot in the NFL playoffs every year simply because they’re the Cowboys and they are historically a popular team.
Last edited:
@shagcarpetjesus post above pretty much summarizes my thoughts. You are not wrong that fifa and uefa are corrupt, but this super league is not even close to addressing these issues. The format being proposed is non-sense and goes 100% against soccer’s natural competition format. America is one of the very few places where terrible organizations always have a sit at the top league due to the lack of relegation. Soccer does not need that.
It seems pretty clear the Super League isn't trying to solve the issues that UEFA and FIFA have. The format being proposed is different than one that has existed in much of soccer in the past. Is that good? Is that bad? It's not as if any of these teams is fielding a bad team right now.
Additionally, as it pertains to UEFA and FIFA: how much could these clubs have done to fix those ongoing issues. The governing bodies' first reaction to these clubs proposing leaving is "f*** them" instead of looking in the mirror to try to solve some problems. How helpful is THAT?
If this goes through it will level the playing field for a lot of European leagues. Outside of Leicester winning the EPL a few years ago, the last team to win that isn't among the Super clubs is Blackburn or Aston Villa in the 90s probably. Now other teams can have a chance.
This is 100% bad for soccer. The beauty of soccer is that you have thousands of clubs in almost all of the countries competing for the top spots and for the titles of each league. Everyone of these clubs has the opportunity to become better (or worse) and compete for titles as well as to avoid being relegated to lower divisions. This alone gives the opportunity for thousands ds of athletes to play the sport professionally as well as the opportunity for smaller cities to have a club that they are proud of.
My soccer team in Brazil is the most victorious club in the country, but guess what. They have been relegated to second division twice due to poor management, and that’s how it should be.
Unfortunately, not every country is like this currently. England and Spain are perfect examples of places where a small amount of teams have dominated their leagues... however, once again, this super league is not the solution to this problem. If they truly want to make their leagues more competitive, then they would support a financial restructuring of their leagues, so that revenues are more evenly distributed between all clubs.
in summary, I am not saying that soccer doesn’t have many issues that needs addressed, but this super league doesn’t seem to be trying to address any of them.
This is what I hope. If the big football clubs try this, throw them out of the domestic league. See what happens when all your games are against teams thousands of miles away in foreign countries.
I almost have to believe this is a way for Real Madrid to distract from the fact that they are paupers pretending to be kings.
The perfect storm that has been gathering over Real Madrid is now threatening to break
The Spanish giants continue to spend on players, and stadium redevelopment, despite dwindling sources of income
These clubs aren't planning on leaving their domestic leagues. This is a replacement for Champions league. And no relegation for the founding members defeats what's great about European ball. You could have a scenario in this weird league where you are relegating top half clubs if your founding members flounder. AC Milan and Arsenal aren't close to what the other clubs are and they could easily be bottom feeders that never succeed in this competition yet are always there.
If FIFA and the Domestic organizations are serious, they punt them out of their domestic leagues, and tell the players they are not welcome in the WC. Any business venture started by the management of Real Madrid doesn't seem like a sure fired winner to me.
Manchester to Milan is 1/3rd of the distance than San Francisco to New York...This is what I hope. If the big football clubs try this, throw them out of the domestic league. See what happens when all your games are against teams thousands of miles away in foreign countries.
I almost have to believe this is a way for Real Madrid to distract from the fact that they are paupers pretending to be kings.
The perfect storm that has been gathering over Real Madrid is now threatening to break
The Spanish giants continue to spend on players, and stadium redevelopment, despite dwindling sources of incomewww.telegraph.co.uk
