This is not the first time that clubs have attempted an assault on UEFA’s castle. 25 years ago, at the start of the new century, the Italian group Media Partners It became the hope of the greats of Europe by proposing a different competition, more attractive for spectators and more succulent from an economic point of view. That project of Super League With 36 clubs, 18 of which were selected directly for their sporting merits during the previous decade, it hoped to raise a whopping 2 billion euros per season. How the story has changed, eh? The idea was, of course, opposed by UEFA, and the meeting that took place in La Coruña between Gerard Aigner, who was the Ceferin at that time, Lorenso Sanz, Jesús Gil and Augusto César Lendoiro was very significant. . In the final phase of the negotiations, which UEFA aborted, Media Partners revealed that it had offered the European football establishment the direction of its idea, securing in exchange 600 million dollars for youth football. But UEFA acted quickly and increased the league to 32 clubs. It makes me laugh when they now speak disparagingly of the elite from Nyon: What is UEFA except an elite group? What have UEFA members done to be there? I know Cristiano and Messi, Mourinho and Guardiola, I know what Florentino Pérez does, but, Does anyone know who, for example, Karl-Erik Nilsson is? Or what has Gabriele Gravina done to be there? Or Armand Duka? Does anyone know them? Nobody knows them but everyone pays homage to them because they are the modern feudal lords.
How did UEFA anesthetize the clubs in 1998? Well, and contrary to what the defenders of feudalism may think, they convinced the elite with even more privileges, such as offering the former European champions the possibility of playing in the new Champions League with an invitation in the event of not having achieved qualification on the field of play. Two years later, the one known as G-14 was founded, with Real Madrid, Barça, Juve, Milan, Liverpool, United, Bayern… That is, many of those who were, and still are because they have not left, in the genesis of the Super League. The mistake of ’98 was not trying, no, The mistake of ’98 was not doing it, the mistake was not getting it. And if it was not achieved it was for the simple reason that the sneaky UEFA gave more money to the clubs. And I knowingly use the adjective cunning, that is, cunning, sagacious, devious, because what UEFA did was simply convince the clubs to continue under its umbrella in exchange for money… that was already theirs, that was already It belonged to them! Because the only thing UEFA does is give the clubs pieces of the cake that they cook with the ingredients that they have previously gone to buy in the morning at the market.
Those who say that yesterday Court of Justice of the European Union, the famous CJEU, did not endorse the Super League, they are right, it did not do it. The Court did not say “you can organize the Super League.” Those who say that the CJEU did not rule yesterday that UEFA could not continue being a monopoly are right again. What the Court said yesterday is that UEFA, which is effectively a monopoly, has exercised a dominant position and that, therefore, its conduct is anti-competitive. That is why UEFA is prevented from sanctioning clubs that want to talk about a new competition or even organize it. Yesterday there were two clubs in the SuperLiga, Real Madrid and Barça. Today, just 24 hours later, Klopp has already said that he likes the verdictDe Laurentiis has commented that in Serie A there are cities with twenty thousand inhabitants that do not sell even ten thousand tickets and FIFA has leaked that they have to study the idea. There is still much more opposition but, since this historic December 21, 2023, what has been gained is the freedom to be able to discuss the future of professional football, which, in the end, is still an… elite sport. The difference with respect to 1998 is that I don’t think UEFA will now be able to get Florentino Pérez to sell himself for a plate of lentils. Not even the end of year lentils.
2023-12-22 18:27:14
#Assault #UEFA #castle #penultimate #living #Raulista
