Nuclear war has descended upon European football. The theoretical European Super League bomb has finally been designed and dropped. 12 clubs, six from the Premier League, are involved in a continental breakaway to create a competition that supersedes the Champions League. This has been coming for years but it still shameful.
The cartel may be made up of American venture capitalists, a Russian oligarch and a Middle East nation-state but the intentions are the same. It is down to greed. These clubs are already worth billions but why stop there. Make it tens of billions by changing the fabric of elite European football into American franchise sport.
It is still early days into this project. The details were released late on Sunday night - not an ideal time for fans of the clubs they own but it is for the USA - and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was quizzed on Manchester United's involvement when the story broke during the 3-1 win over Burnley.
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| Pep Guardiola and other managers have been put in a tricky position by their faceless owners |
There has been no consideration for fans but this is not surprising. These are not football clubs to the owners. They are assets to increase their own wealth. A European Super League is only the interests of themselves, not one person in football has spoken in support of this aside from the owners.
Greed is at the heart of this power grab but so to is the removal of sporting competiton. The 15 founder clubs - Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and PSG were expected to be there but have come out in opposition - would be guaranteed access for 23 years, with five more clubs joining every year based on a "qualifying mechanism" on the previous season.
This is their way of trying to adhere to a meritocracy. 75 per cent of clubs will qualify for a Super League every single year. Arsenal are 9th in the Premier League and managed to scrape a draw against almost-relegated Fulham. It is not very super, either, if the reigning European champions have no part in it.
Managers have been put in a difficult position by their owners. Only Florentino Perez, to disastrous effect, has spoken to the media about the Super League. Jurgen Klopp spoke out against a Super League in 2019 and, without explicitly saying so, reiterated his stance before and after Liverpool's match last night. Pep Guardiola's press conference was cut short by Manchester City as he was very critical of the proposals.
It is not sport when the relation between effort and success does not exist. It is not sport where success is already guaranteed, it is not sport where it doesn't matter when you lose.
A closed shop goes against the values of sporting competition. There is little support for this from fans and players feel the same way. James Milner, the first player from one of the clubs involved to speak on the issue, said he doesn't want it to happen. Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford posted a picture of on Twitter of a banner with a quote from Sir Matt Busby: "Football is nothing without fans". Liverpool midfielder Jordan Henderson is meeting with the other Premier League captains to discuss the situation.
As Rashford alluded to, fans are the most important part of football. Their opinion, not matter how much the owners don't care, is so valuable. Fans of the clubs involved have asked for banners to be removed from stadiums. Fans at Anfield protested in 2016 about ticket prices costing £77 and John W. Henry was forced to backtrack. Fans protested about paying £14.95 for Premier League matches and the plan was stopped. Fans have more power than they believe.
There is the possibility, though, that all of this may be in vain. Can the government step in with their "legislative bomb" to prevent this? Will not being able to play for your country cause a revolt from players?
If it is stopped, brilliant. If it isn't, the Premier League will have no choice but to expel the clubs. Breakaway fully or not at all. This example of greed is a step too far.
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