It would be an understatement to suggest that those promoting the plan to create a European Super League (ESL), in which the most important clubs in the sport would participate, made a spectacular mistake in reading, before revealing their self-proclaimed “Strategic Vision “to” benefit from the whole pyramid of European football “.
The clubs at the table, led by Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez (also ESL president), Manchester United co-president Joel Glazer (ESL vice-president) and Juventus president Andrea Agnelli (ESL vice-president) saw signs of approval from fellow executives at nine other clubs. big; However, football exists far beyond that exclusive cabal in the council chamber. The feelings of others who have an emotional connection to sports have been completely ignored and rejected, all in search of monetary gain.
ESL is simply an idea that no one wants, except the owners of the biggest and richest clubs in world football, who simply want to get bigger and richer, despite the sugar-covered claims of members. their basic.
“We will help football at all levels and take it to where it belongs in the world,” Pérez said in a statement released by ESL on Sunday. “Football is the only global sport in the world with more than four billion fans and our responsibility as a big club is to respond to the wishes of the fans.”
Agnelli, whose Juventus are facing multiple difficulties on the pitch and could be eliminated from the next edition of the Champions League, after falling to fourth place in the Serie A standings this season, just two points ahead of Napoli, said “Our 12 founding clubs represent billions of fans around the world,” he added. “We have come together at this critical time, allowing European competition to transform, putting the sport we love on a sustainable footing for the future.” . long-term future “.
Well, you got it: instead of being a vehicle that allows every ESL member club to get rich at a rate of almost £ 300 million a year, the Super League proposal was actually designed to become the savior of football. and for that, his fans around the world should feel eternal gratitude.
Unfortunately for ESL leaders, the reaction of the fans was universally hostile. Social media was ignited with the repudiation of fans of all clubs, with angry statements from bars related to Manchester United (“These proposals are completely unacceptable”), Arsenal (“The death of everything that should be football”), Chelsea (“We are constrained”) and Manchester City (“motivated by greed”), among others.
We already know that UEFA and FIFA oppose the plans and that each participating club has been warned of the risk of expulsion from their domestic leagues, along with the veto of their players in international competitions, if they continue their attempt. So with so much opposition from football fans and governing bodies alike, why are they the owners of the 12 founding members (ESL has confirmed that the group will grow to 15 in the coming weeks) You are so determined to tear down the model current to advance your plans?
In the last year, the COVID-19 pandemic has taught us many things, in the fields of sports and society. One element that I understood well from a sports perspective is the reality that the money generated by television rights is what keeps the clubs alive today and not the fans who pay to enter the stadium. As for the simple show, the presence of fans in the stadiums was very missed; However, from a strictly economic point of view, top-level football has proven to be able to survive without fans paying to be on the pitch.
It is obvious that football fans will return to the stadium once the pandemic is over; however, ESL member club owners are well aware that even as hostility continues and deepens, most fans will continue to pay to watch matches inside the arenas. If not, the owners know that millions of football fans around the world will pay season tickets to watch Super League matches, sponsors desperate to connect to a competition involving the biggest clubs and the best footballers.
It is a ruthless and even cynical mentality; But the people who run the reins of football know how things work. And if the Super League becomes a closed store without fear of demotion, then the NFL and NBA are highly successful business models to imitate. United, Arsenal and Liverpool (three founding members of USL) are owned by Americans who participate in their country’s sports; therefore, they already know very well how to monetize the ownership of a franchise in a similar environment. It is also clear that with a future that does not consider the possibility of demotion, all ESL member clubs would be even more valuable to their owners.
But again we ask ourselves: what about the fans? But the families who supported your club for generations, saw them succeed and fail, bought tickets and T-shirts, went to the stadium in the cold and rain? The current owners have purchased their clubs, in many cases without any previous association or connection. In the case of the Glazer and United family, their acquisition in 2005 was financed from the club’s own resources. Even today, the same owners use historic clubs with deep roots in their communities as bargaining chips to create a closed money machine that only they want.
It is not the clubs that threaten to destroy the fabric of football. They are their owners and have proven to be indifferent to the wishes of the fans. However, while they continue without consulting the fans, they do so at a time when, due to the pandemic, the stadiums remain closed to football fans. This means that groups of passionate fans from all clubs have lost the opportunity to protest (visibly and loudly). You just have to imagine the scenes that would take place at Anfield, Old Trafford or San Siro, if the presence of fans had been allowed in the matches played this weekend, as has happened in the past. Despite this, fans will find a way to feel, either through social campaigns or other forms of protest, making sure their voices are heard.
The owners probably had a terrible reading of the situation. It is even possible that they simulated deafness and intentionally bowed their heads; but at the moment I have no doubt about what the football world thinks about them and their plans.