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Super League plan being pushed by Real Madrid and Manchester United at such an advanced stage that UEFA and FIFA issue warning to players they face World Cup exile should their teams breakaway.
via @NYTimes https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/21/sports/super-league-fifa-world-cup.html?referringSource=articleShare
via @NYTimes https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/21/sports/super-league-fifa-world-cup.html?referringSource=articleShare
Joel Glazer has been working the phones, pushing the idea of a Super League. The idea is for 15/16 permanent members and 4 or 5 qualifiers for each season. League would be divided into 2 groups 10, with top four in each qualifying for knockouts. All games midweek except final.
For some owners, the issue is the lack of certainty of recurring revenues. Year out of Champions League drives down income, making planning for the future difficult. But that’s the business they bought into. No surprises
The other interesting aspect of these plans, is like Project Big Picture, another plan pushed by Man United, permanent member clubs would split a 3.5bn euro grant/ golden handshake, with 6 biggest 350m euros, a remarkable sum, more than double team that wins Premier League gets!
Another odd aspect of this is Barcelona and Real Madrid expect to be paid an additional 30m euros per year for ... being Barcelona and Real Madrid.
The group behind this has even worked out its own version of FFP. amount spent on wages, transfers and agent fees should not exceed 55% of revenue (or 27.5% of revenues of highest earning club). Clubs must maintain 3-year aggregate profit (Good news for owners)
Some folks suggesting the clubs in breakaway could form own World Cup. Hard to see. For example how many players from Senegal would be there, or Czech Republic? And what if some of best players in breakaway are from those countries?
Now the politics: By signing letter FIFA does UEFA a favour given UEFA's Champions League would be killed by a Super League. What does FIFA get in return? Perhaps, UEFA finally acquiescing to proper support for FIFA's Club World Cup, send best teams and support biennial event?
Intervention now from European Commission Vice President Margaritis Schinas in support of Uefa’s opposition to a Super League:
“There is no scope for the few to distort the universal and diverse nature of European football.” https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-uefa-superleague-opposition-ceferin-von-der-leyen-meeting/
“There is no scope for the few to distort the universal and diverse nature of European football.” https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-uefa-superleague-opposition-ceferin-von-der-leyen-meeting/
For those wondering the words "fan" or "fans" does not appear once in the proposals that I have seen. Perhaps there's a whole other document about that.
Part of the issue for some of the clubs, and what attracts them to the Super League, is the certainty it offers them. Certainty of participation and certainty of revenue. Why most fans like sports is the opposite: the uncertainty of outcome.
