Since the dawn of time, the rich and powerful have spat in the faces of the poor for the sake of making their pockets fatter. In all walks of human life, the hierarchy of big business billionaires takes precedence over the needs of us regular folk. No matter how many our numbers and how little their morales, we have to come to terms with money being the driving factor of any large scale decision. Football, unfortunately, being no different. With previous club changes and “football evolution” being dictated by cash, recent developments have really battered the largest nail into european football`s diamond encrusted coffin. On Sunday 18th April 2021, Europe`s top clubs, funded by American vulture capitalist conglomerate, JP Morgan, have banded together and announced a breakaway league called the European Super league, which would cause irreparable damage to the footballing world, completely disregarding the billions of fans around the world that have a passionate culture that no other sport can compete with. The teams that have been confirmed are:
.Manchester United
.Liverpool
.Manchester City
.Chelsea
.Arsenal
.Tottenham Hotspur
.Juventus
.AC Milan
.Inter Milan
.Atletico Madrid
.Barcelona
.Real Madrid
We go into what is becoming the horrifically soulless Americanisation of our great sport and what should happen next.
What Problems Does It Cause?
The prestige. The passion. The love. All killed by greedy billionaires such as Florentino Perez and Joel Glazer, the owners of the two clubs that are spearheading this movement. Grassroots football and the dreams of lower league club success is in tatters. With a league that is already guaranteed to consist of Europe`s richest clubs without the concept of promotion or relegation, no club could ever again dream the footballing dream of making it to the very top. The community feel, the rivalries and all that makes European football different from every sport in the world, gone. All history with these elite clubs halted, as previous achievements now become irrelevant. The legacy`s of the Busby Babes, Kenny Dalglish, Arsene Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson, now become buried.
Not only is there a massive sentimental value however. These top clubs bring in the most money to the footballing structure, helping support the hundred and thousands of teams involved in the football pyramid, with the Premier League helping the trickle down effect of funds to lower league competitions. So many lives financially and emotionally depend on these clubs existing.
What Is Being Done To Stop This?
The fight for our sport will continue till the bitter end. FIFA and UEFA are not the usual heroes, and neither should they be this time as their fightback would have been vastly different if they were also financially gaining from this. However, sometimes the enemy of your enemy is your friend, and in this case, they could be the biggest barrier from this disgraceful decision from going through. UEFA have firmly stated that any player that competes in the ESL, they will be banned from competing in national leagues, Champions league and most importantly, the World Cup. The hope is that players would choose merit over money, an option that hasn’t always come to fruition in the past. The difference with this situation however, in comparison with other power grabs is the complete lack of respect and appreciation for the rest of the footballing world, a world in which these players all came from.
It is not just these organisations that are against such a move. UK and EU law could be the strongest safety net for the future of football. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has gone public with his displeasure with such a move and that government bodies and UK courts will intervene if this sham of a competition was to go through. They will be backed by the shared Competition law between the UK and the EU that is as follows; “Prohibits agreements, arrangements and concerted business practices which prevent, restrict or distort competition, or where there is intended result, and which affect or may affect trade within the UK or EU”. Due to the obvious financial knock on effect this league will have on the rest of the football pyramid, these laws would be drastically broken. The other key law to preventing this from taking place is the exclusion of promotion and relegation from this European league. An American model that is in fact illegal this side of the pond.
Do The Players Have A Responsibility?
No, but they are powerful. Despite the media outrage at footballers spending their money lucratively or speaking out of turn, they are simply workers. In comparison to the people behind this plot, incredibly, the wages of the footballers is closer to ours than the billionaire owners. They are people who love football just like us and are being forced into a difficult position by their bosses. However, it is worth noting that these players hold so much influence over fans, sponsors and even owners. We have seen managers sacked after players come forward and express displeasure. The financial incentive for this league is the vast amounts of money that clubs are losing due to the costs of keeping these top teams together in wages and transfers. If Manchester United players take a stand against such a move, the Glazers product becomes worthless. If Liverpool players take a stand, John Henry`s product becomes worthless. This is not simple, as the risk of being a hero is a damaging one, and when money is on the line, none of us would be able to comfortably reject a payslip worth 10x what could be offered to us somewhere else. That is if one of the players takes such a stand. The outcome of multiple, especially the top players, would be a very different outcome. The hope would be a domino effect that would see players commit to remaining in the football pyramid and keep the love and communities of the game alive. Does the love of money or the love of football stand strong? Easy for us to decide, but a much braver decision for those in the spotlight.
The Angry Spectator 