Football Wars: 2021 Edition
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This breakaway European Football League really is as ghastly as it first appeared. It is not the first time the big European clubs have put their sticky hands in the jar, but this one really is at the next level.
There have been other revolutions in the last 30 years, with the big two happening in the 1990s.
The move to the Premier League format in 1992 was more about the financial distribution between the clubs, and it was a precursor to this. But the actual competition did not really change, and it also introduced the parachute clause for sides relegated, which to this day has proved to be admirable.
The other change was to the UEFA Champions League where it moved from a One Team per Country model to one where the stronger leagues got extra teams. Again, a precursor to this but it did result in a better competition.
Sure, having Malmo in the final against Nottingham Forest has some sentimental late 1970s nostalgia to it, but the world has moved on from that. And it’s not as if one side has had a stranglehold on the last 4 in that competition.
There appears to have been a cynical hijacking of the COVID situation. Teams have lost turnstile revenue as well as pay-for-view income, so there are loans to call in. And a lot of the clubs dialled up are in some serious debt.
But The Golden Rule applies. Everyone seems to be cowered into submission, waiting for instructions from their Overlords.
Meanwhile the managers remain quiet. Apart from Jose, who got sacked, and Klopp who rode a tightrope..
Ultimately the power sits with the fans, because traditional football governance can’t really be fully trusted.
If fans for once put aside club loyalties and band together and collectively withdraw financial support, that might have an effect, and that sits primarily with TV subscriptions.
Meanwhile the players remain quiet.
While it is easy to bag the 6 English clubs for their involvement in all of this it would be hard to think of a Premier League club that would have turned down the offer..
The UEFA / FIFA fightback is a tricky one.
https://twitter.com/GaryLineker/status/1384263591331721218?s=20
They want to protect the integrity of the competitions they own but this would seem to be an all-in cash grab for lawyers in a field with no precedents. It does add to the theatre though.
This is such a fast moving story, and the chances are this piece will be irrelevant tomorrow. But this is sporting politics, finance and dodgy dealings at its best and worst.
But, from a New Zealand perspective, the clue is in the word Super. The NPC, with all its tribal rivalries hasn’t been quite the same since.