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British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has vowed to block the attempt by 12 of Europe’s largest football teams to create an elite “superleague”, in the latest sign of growing political backlash against the threatening initiative with giving up the sport.
“The prime minister has confirmed that the government will not stop while a small handful of homeowners create a closed store,” Johnson’s office said Tuesday. “He was clear that no action is off the table and the government is exploring all possibilities, including legislative options, to ensure that these proposals are stopped.”
The Prime Minister’s stance adds to the widespread condemnation of governments, including France, Spain, Italy and Greece, against a proposal that would undermine current European championships and harm smaller clubs. Clément Beaune, France’s European minister, described the plan as “against nature” and said France could take action when it takes over the EU presidency next year if the situation is not resolved by then.
“This is the consequence of a system where money is king, and that excludes merit and solidarity,” he said on Tuesday, arguing it would seriously harm grassroots football. “We have to rule out this kind of closed competition based on money, at the end of the story.”
Comments by Beaune reports followed the weekend that President Emmanuel Macron, a football fan, would support the initiatives of the football authorities to block the plans.
Of the twelve teams that have registered, six come from the English Premier League, three from the Italian Serie A and three from the Spanish League. But Frenchman Paris St Germain and German Bayern Munich, two of the richest and most prominent teams in Europe, have not joined the initiative.
The plan would allow member clubs to compete against each other without running the risk of being relegated and therefore ensure a steady stream of revenue. But existing football leaders, supporters and football authorities said it would kill the meritocratic aspect of European football, which is based on a system of national leagues where clubs compete and can be promoted or relegated depending on their performance.
The pro-independence initiative has caused consternation among other teams in major European divisions, which would lose the gains from lucrative television rights deals if competition continued.
“The proposal of some rich European clubs to form a closed league totally contradicts the history and tradition of the game. It is wrong, simple and straightforward,” Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Tuesday. “Fans will not accept it.”
The Italian government of Mario Draghi said on Monday that it “would strongly support the position of the Italian and European football authorities to preserve national competitions, meritocratic values and the social function of sport”.
Aleksander Ceferin, President of Uefa, speaks on Tuesday in Montreux (Switzerland). He has threatened to ban players from joining the league from playing in international competitions © Richard Juilliart / UEFA / AP
Aleksander Ceferin, president of Uefa, the governing body of European football, has called the plans embarrassing and has threatened to ban players who join the league from playing in international competitions, such as the World Cup.
Nasser Al-Khelaifi, president of Paris Saint-Germain, the French club owned by the Qatari state, has pledged to remain in the Champions League, the existing continental club competition run by Uefa.
“We believe that any proposal without the support of Uefa, an organization that has been working for almost 70 years to advance the interests of European football, does not solve the problems currently facing the football community, but is driven by self-interest . ”
Al-Khelaifi also owns Doha-based beIN Sports, the broadcaster that has spent billions of euros on acquiring television projection rights for football competitions across Europe, including the Champions League.
The jury does not know whether governments will be able to prevent the plan from materializing despite growing pressure and public outrage. Simon Chadwick, a professor of Eurasian sports at EMLyon Business School, said that despite the anger of many capitals, European governments could struggle to intervene.
“Countries or the EU could make threats to exclude players or ban teams, but for me this is empty rhetoric,” he added. “It’s like Amazon and the taxes of the last decade: European countries have tried and failed to control companies that are uncontrollable in many ways.”
In Italy, other football club owners reacted angrily to the announcement. Urbano Cairo, an Italian businessman who presides over the Turin football club, described the teams they had planned to part with Serie A as “judases”.
“They should be ashamed of themselves. The superleague project will not be successful, but even thinking about it means trying the life of Serie A. ”
The plan was “a serious insult” to European football culture and an “existential threat” to clubs, the French football fans’ association said on Tuesday.
The Spanish government has also been opposed to the plans, which include three teams in the league: Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid.
Fabrizio Zaccari, head of the Lazio Brussels supporters club, one of the two great teams in Rome, and who has not joined the initiative, said it would ruin the integrity of the sport he loved.
“It’s going to completely distort the system, creating a model that approaches American show business and only helps the teams that will participate,” he said. “But we should not be surprised. For years, economic interests have brought sport to ruin.
Additional reports by Daniel Dombey in Madrid, Eleni Varvitsioti in Athens, Davide Ghiglione in Rome and Erika Solomon in Berlin
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