In the surreal news about the ‘nuclear war’ that owners of some of Europe’s richest clubs have started on football with the announcement of the European Super League, we can take some solace in the fact that they are unlikely to win.
The Cause for Optimism During Football’s Strangest Hour
The Proposal is Unlikely to Ever Be More Than a Proposal
The ‘super’ clubs involved in the proposal believe the staggering figures involved in this league can remove any blocks in its way.
With everyone against them, it can’t work. At least not in the way they want it to.
Some of Europe’s biggest clubs have taken a stand against the league already – Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, and Porto are among clubs we know to be uninterested in joining this league. Paris Saint-Germain appears to be in the same boat.
Governing bodies like UEFA want to take immediate action. It is exploring options of banning players from its competitions. Jesper Moller, a Danish executive committee member, has claimed that he expects Chelsea, Real Madrid and Manchester City to be expelled from the Champions League by the end of this week.
“I was a criminal lawyer for 24 years and I’ve never, ever, seen people like that.”
UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin has hit out at Ed Woodward and Andrea Agnelli after #MUFC and Juventus signed up to the breakaway European Super League…👀 pic.twitter.com/wB4JnNsfe8
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) April 19, 2021
The Premier League, La Liga, and Serie A won’t accept the proposal of this league. Each league will meet to discuss this issue in the coming days. Any negotiation that will bring them on board is unfathomable.
At a higher level than football, governments will take action against the league. Boris Johnson has claimed his government will ‘support football authorities in taking action’. The UK government could legally force compulsory sales of the clubs joining the breakaway league, as it would go against the interest of British business.
The blocking from the opposition at the top of football’s pyramid will be relentless until the proposal is unattainable.
If the European Super League Can Start, it Won’t Last
Ultimately, for this league to work, the clubs would need to have enough fans on board. While the huge money proposed by JP Morgan is a promising start for the league, if enough fans oppose the league, it can’t continue.
The owners of these clubs have shown themselves to be incapable of doing that. They are so out of touch with their clubs’ fans it is hard to imagine them appeasing the supporters. The damage they have done with this announcement appears irreversible.
Within a day of the news breaking, admissions such as the following from a board member from one of the Super League clubs was stated: “Their job is to maximise profits. The wider good of the game is a secondary concern”.
The admitted lack of interest in anything but the revenue at the top of the football pyramid won’t sit well with spectators. The business of these clubs relies on the connection their fans feel with them. The arrogance of the clubs’ owners in not realising that cutting off that connection could destroy their businesses is shocking.
That is why this news is so surreal. The people at the top of football don’t even understand the sport they are running. They are banking on glamour-loving youth raised on FIFA Ultimate Team that don’t affiliate with clubs, just players. They think they can use those fans to monopolise football.
Those fans are the minority, and won’t sustain a ‘super league’, even if they are in favour of it. If this league can be legally created, it will almost certainly fail.
The unity they have created against them means these clubs should not win this ‘war’ they have started.
Main Photo
Embed from Getty Images
