European Football Future Is this the way forward?

[B_i_N]

An interesting article in the Guardian online. The money clubs want to go it alone.

http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/0,,1733706,00.html

If this were to happen, where would this leave the National team and the rest of the clubs? Would the English public just want to support 3 teams in the new European CLOSED league, or would they rebel? Would this be the end of Bradford or any other team playing the likes of Man Utd, Arsenal or Liverpool ever again outside the FA Cup?

[stoodley]

all depends on clubs

you would have to include BIG clubs that are struggling which would upset stronger teams

eg Leeds United are one day going to be massive again
Roma would average a minimum of 60,000 in such a league

[B_i_N]

I can't see them wanting to let in a poxy little club like L666s in when the G14 don't even want Chelsea to be a part of their set up.

[stoodley]

what on earth are dortmund and marseille and psg doing in G14 ?

they are all rubbish

[B_i_N]

what on earth are dortmund and marseille and psg doing in G14 ?

they are all rubbish

Exactly, it's a football mafia wanting to take on another football mafia.

[stoodley]

an astonishing 7 SEVEN of these so called big clubs are not currently in a qualifying spot for next season's champions league

[jimmy]

The best thing the FA could do,is boot them out of the league at the end of the season and leave them fucked.They will not give two hoots when they pull out,so why should the FA.It will end up a farse after a few years in the European League.If you look at the crowds in the European cup,they are paultry even at the so called big hitters.Fans wont be travelling to away games after the first season as the novellty will wear off and there will be no local rivalry and the fans will yearn for it.Let them do it thats what i say.It will make our League more competetive and more interesting without the so called big three.

[stoodley]

the potential clubs to benefit are tourist locations

eg Munich for Beer Festival

can't imagine anyone wanting to go to Dortmund or Marseille

[B_i_N]

Don't know, South of France can be nice, as long as you don't get mugged. I think the criteria these club base themselves on is that they have some of the largest support both home and abroad. 3 clubs from each country with a large audience for potential advertisement revenue gives them a the chance of a larger slice of the cake.
I see that FIFA and UEFA are trying to head them off. It could be interesting, if the clubs break away it could be the end of national teams playing international competitions. However if a player who joins one of the break away clubs is threatened with being banned from playing for any other team in the FIFA system, this could put off a lot of players for fear of being dropped from one of the 18 break away clubs. Where would they play then?
On another note if say England, Germany Italy and France decided to break away from FIFA and UEFA, that would be the end of FIFA. Brazil and Argentina would join in any competition organized by the big 4 in Europe.

I think FIFA really have to put their thinking caps on and stop this allowing all nations and tiny little states into all the major competitions. It's of course nice when a small team can play a big team, but not all the time. I also think Europe should be placed into 2 zones. I don't see why teams from the west should have to go and play in far away places like Moldova, Albania, Georgia and other mafia run states.
I must admit I think it's pretty boring when England have to play the likes of Malta, Andorra and other tiny nations most people have never heard of.
Nope it's going to be really interesting to see what happens. I do think it's funny that the G14 have blackballed Chelsea since Red Rom has the money to start his own G14. They are certainly playing with fire at the moment. Hypothetically could you imagine Red Rom doing a deal with Murdoch, that could really blow the lid off football?
I just wish someone would give poor Bradford some money.

[BaselBantam]

South of France can be nice
:) ;)

Back on topic, though, I see that G14 are backing Charlerois over trying to sue FIFA over the injury to Oulmers while playing a friendly for Morocco.

While I can see why a team might be pissed off because they are missing a player for a season through injury, I think that it would set a bad precedent if they won the case.

Would this lead to decent players effectively being excluded from international friendlies because national sides will be afraid of being sued?

The big clubs always seem to be moaning about losing players to friendly matches. I see this as a test case by the G14 clubs to force FIFA to change their stance on international appearances.

[B_i_N]

It's a double edged sword. Some of these clubs need a player to play for the national team, especially at the World Cup and European Championships to increase the value of the player. So are they actually stabbing themselves in the foot. Would a player want to go and play for one of these clubs if he knew that he would never again be able to play for his national team?
Of course I can see where they are coming from, they do have to pay them while they are away on national duty and if they get injured while away. But what about all these massive insurance premiums they keep paying for their top players. Doesn't this cover it? If it doesn't it should.
My view is that the G14 want the best of both worlds.

[eurobantam]

Any breakaway will fail for the same reasons as the last one, and a couple others too.

The head of the Polish FA has already tabled a motion for the UEFA excom to ban breakaway players from international competition. UEFA and FIFA will back his move.
The domestic leagues will expel the breakaway clubs so they will have to rely on the superleague for all their income.
This means that they will have to find at least £80m a year each to make it worth their while. No investor will front that type of money, JP Morgan had £2.5 bn available last time but the investment climate has changed considerably since then. No media company in the world would front that sort of money on an untested competition.

This is a case of G14 attempting to flex its muscles ahead of the Chaleroi case. The last time the breakaway clubs got a little of what they wanted and will no doubt get a little this time. FIFA is more hostile about paying for players on international duty than UEFA, so there will be some kind of trade off.

The trouble with muscle flexing is that it doesn’t look that impressive when you’re a six stone weakling. G14 has real credibility problems and actually has less power than the clubs had before they formed it.

If G14 doesn’t get a good result from the Chaleroi case I reckon it will fold and work as an informal lobbying group, which actually works better.

Chelsea’s Kenyon had the top position at G14 when at Man Utd, now he’s on the excom of the UEFA club competitions committee. Roman and him both realise that the future lies in UEFA sanctioned competitions. And while G14 might reluctantly take Chelsea in, they wont take Romans beloved CSKA.

Its all good copy for journos with short memories, who are happy to spin it for the G14 clubs, but it will never happen.