#1979e6
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Post by Webster on Apr 20, 2021 18:21:09 GMT
(The Guardian) While the government has promised it will do what is necessary to block the ESL, including using legislation if needed, ministers have so far been vague about precisely how this could happen. But Ed Davey has an idea. The Lib Dem leader has suggested passing a law to impose a new rule, made retrospective to the start of this season, which would mean club owners wanting to join a new competition must first get approval of the club’s season ticket holders, via a ballot. The argument is that this would be a quicker, interim way towards a German style fans’ veto, without having to change ownership rules. Davey said: “I am sure the billionaire owners of clubs that use expensive PR agencies to communicate their commitment to fans should welcome this change.” Would it work? That might depend on the view of lawyers. But it’s more specific than any Downing Street plans so far.
The, erm, evolution will not be televised on Amazon Prime.
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#1979e6
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May 20, 2018 17:24:36 GMT
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Post by Webster on Apr 20, 2021 18:24:07 GMT
(The Guardian) Stephen Mackie clearly has too much time on his hands but his work is an amusing distraction for a moment. “That funny tweet from Wolves retrospectively claiming the 18-19 Premier League title got me thinking. Technically if you’re going to expunge the breakaway teams from the record books you also have to expunge the games they played in. Unfortunately for Wolves they did really well against the top six that season but not so well against the rest of the league, so in the revised league table they actually only finished seventh which, ironically, is exactly where they finished anyway. So instead congrats to the 18-19 Alternative Premier League Champions Watford, who picked up 47 of their 50 points that season against the other 13 teams which was enough to take the title! I’ve attached a revised list of Premier League winners if that sort of thing interests you (it does me!)” It makes nice viewing for Everton fans.
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#1979e6
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Post by Webster on Apr 20, 2021 18:29:59 GMT
(The Guardian) Roma are one of the biggest clubs in Italy and are not involved in the ESL. Here’s their statement on the breakaway league: AS Roma is strongly opposed to this ‘closed’ system, as it fundamentally flies in the face of the spirit of the game that we all love. Some things are more important than money, and we remain firmly committed to Italian football on a domestic level, and to fair, open European competitions for all. We look forward to continuing to work with Lega Serie A, the Italian Federation, ECA and UEFA to grow and develop the game of football in Italy and around the world. Fans and grassroots football are at the core of our sport, and this must never be forgotten.
Milan chief executive Ivan Gazidis, formerly of fellow breakaway club Arsenal, has written to the club’s sponsors outlining why he believes the European Super League will benefit football. Milan, Inter and Juventus are the Italian clubs who have joined plans to be founding members of the European Super League: We’re confident that this new competition will capture the imagination of billions of soccer fans all over the world and will be a new, exciting chapter for the game. The Super League will provide value and support to the whole soccer pyramid with greater financial resources. [Serie A] will remain the most important weekend competition in Italy and Milan is proud to remain.
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#1979e6
MatchDay Commentator
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May 20, 2018 17:24:36 GMT
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Post by Webster on Apr 20, 2021 18:37:40 GMT
(The Guardian) The European Super League has been dealt a further blow with Amazon taking the unusual step of publicly criticising the proposed competition, which effectively rules the streaming giant out as a potential international broadcast partner. “Amazon Prime Video understands and shares the concerns raised by football fans regarding a breakaway Super League,” the company said. “We believe part of the drama and beauty of European football comes from the ability of any club to achieve success through their performance on the pitch.” Amazon, which streams live Champions League matches in Germany and Italy and Premier League games in the UK, also made it clear its allegiance lies with existing rights holders and leagues. The move by Amazon, which has 150m users of Prime Video globally and recently splashed out $1bn on NFL rights, rules out an important potential partner for the Super League. “We have not been involved in any discussions for this proposed Super League,” Amazon said. “We are proud to offer our Prime members the football which matters most to them.” On Monday BT, which has spent more than £2bn on Champions League and Premier League rights in the UK, said that the proposed new competition “could have a damaging effect on the long term health of football in this country.” Late on Monday night Sky, the biggest investor in football rights across Europe, said it was “completely focussed on supporting our long term football partners in the UK and Europe.” Sky added that it had also not been in any discussions with the ESL.
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#1979e6
MatchDay Commentator
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May 20, 2018 17:24:36 GMT
May 2018
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Post by Webster on Apr 20, 2021 18:39:38 GMT
(The Guardian) Boris Johnson: 'It is against the basic principles of competition'At his 5pm press briefing Boris Johnson has just been asked if he really believes he can stop the the ESL from happening. Here is what he had to say: Our first step is to clearly to back the football authorities in this country in the steps they’re taking. There is no doubt that we don’t support it. It is not in the interest of fans and football. How can it be right that you create a cartel where you stop clubs playing against each other. It is against the basic principles of competition. We will seek a legislative solution but we hope they can find a way forward themselves.What would he say to the billionaire club owners? Football was invented and codified in this country. These clubs came from famous towns and cities in our countries and it’s not right they should be dislocated from their home cities and turned into international brands to circulate the globe [to suit the banks].
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#1979e6
MatchDay Commentator
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Post by Webster on Apr 20, 2021 18:41:24 GMT
(The Guardian) Phil Greig wants to talk about wages: “Look at any recent set of accounts from these 12 clubs and you will find a ridiculously high wage bill, in most cases it accounts for well over 50% of revenue expenditure and in other cases much higher. The continuing absurdity of paying players £200k, £350k and in Messi’s case €1.3m per week (insane!) is being ignored entirely. The players and their agents are responsible for negotiating these contracts as much as the clubs. The clubs may be greedy, yes, but it is the greed of players that is driving the clubs to borrow more and more, and now to extreme measures such as the ESL so they can remain competitive with each other, under the hyper pressure of 24-hour news and fans screaming on social media. “Whether or not the ESL happens, until a hard salary cap is brought in, I simply don’t see any other way to dissuade clubs from doing stuff like this. They are companies after all and driven to make a profit where possible, but instead are stacking up unsustainable debt to meet player wages and yes of course, pay the crazy transfer fees negotiated by the players’ agents. Jordan Henderson can have as many meetings with Premier League captains as he wants, but I doubt any of these players nor their agents would make any wage concessions to ease the financial pressure on their clubs. The ESL is a terrible, anti-competitive, anti-football move. But the players are just as much to blame as the owners.” The view from India: “I’ve seen a lot of people saying ‘The fans living in Asia or Africa will LOVE seeing Real Madrid playing Manchester City every week for 23 years’ as a point against the ESL,” writes Arvasu Kulkarni. “Well, that could not be further from the truth. I live in India, and watch Manchester United on the telly every chance I get. “I love that club as much as the people who live in Manchester and are lucky enough to be able to go to Old Trafford every week. I shed tears of joy when Scott McTominay scored the winner in the Derby last March that were just as real as the screams of joy that rung in Old Trafford. And I was just as disgusted and heartbroken when the announcement was made on Sunday. And it wasn’t just me. Everyone I know who watches football hates this idea. We’re a group of people who may never even get to see our teams (like United, Barcelona or Chelsea) play live in Europe and we still despise this idea. “We don’t know what it feels like to be a season-ticket holder, or what it is like to go to your first game with your father. But we know the ESL’s only aim is to destroy football. The reason we stay up to 12:30am to watch United play out a soulless 0-0 draw against Real Sociedad is because we know what football is about, even if we live thousands of miles away, and we know that the ESL forgets all that. It forgets you, the fans in England, and it forgets us, the fans who stay up late into the night to watch the teams you built only for us to be derided as ‘plastic’ and ‘not real fans’ in the ESL conversation.” Thanks Arvasu.
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#1979e6
MatchDay Commentator
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May 20, 2018 17:24:36 GMT
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Post by Webster on Apr 20, 2021 18:42:47 GMT
(The Guardian) Hundreds of protesting Chelsea fans have now started to sit down outside Stamford Bridge as they prepare to make their feelings about the ESL clear when they greet the team coaches before their side’s match against Brighton at 8pm BST. Police are in close attendance but all is peaceful. Some flares have been let off and chants of “it’s not football anymore” can be heard. Here’s what the Chelsea staff will see on some of the banners: --Fans not customers --RIP Chelsea FC (1905-2021) --Sold our Soul --RIP Football (1862-2021) --Buck Off Super League --Roman, Do The Right Thing --Super Greed --Blue is the Colour, Money is our aim It’s the biggest protest so far and is getting increasingly more impassioned.
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#1979e6
MatchDay Commentator
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May 20, 2018 17:24:36 GMT
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Post by Webster on Apr 20, 2021 18:43:52 GMT
(The Guardian) Petr Cech, the technical performance director at Chelsea, has faced up to protesting fans to ask them to move so they can park the bus (no pun intended). He appears to be getting quite an earful and can be heard saying something like: “Let me sort this out. Let the bus go in. Give people time.” He was a good stopper, but can he really stop the Super League? Let’s hope so.
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#1979e6
MatchDay Commentator
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May 20, 2018 17:24:36 GMT
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Post by Webster on Apr 20, 2021 18:45:39 GMT
(The Guardian) Chelsea set to pull out of European Super League!This is huge news. Our Chelsea correspondent, Jacob Steinberg, reports that Chelsea are preparing a communication to the European Super League to tell them they are withdrawing. That will surely be the beginning of the end of the ESL proposals. Chelsea fans have begun to disperse so perhaps Cech really was relating news that the club were going to pull out. Reports: Manchester City pulling out of Super LeagueHello everyone! I’ll start with news, via the Sun’s Martin Lipton, that Manchester City are also planning to pull out of the Super League...
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#1979e6
MatchDay Commentator
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May 20, 2018 17:24:36 GMT
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webster
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Post by Webster on Apr 20, 2021 18:46:38 GMT
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#1979e6
MatchDay Commentator
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Post by Webster on Apr 20, 2021 18:48:31 GMT
(The Guardian) “On the backs of Chelsea’s and City’s withdrawal, no doubt FSG are planning to release a statement doing the same and apologising for yet another mistake,” writes Daniel Fitz. “Enough is enough. As a Liverpool fan, I cannot abide by their constant denigration of the club, its history and our sport at large. They’ve managed to turn my unconditional love and support for my club into a conditional affection. They have tarnished the reputation of my club and the sport and need to go. Charlatans like them are part of the reason why football is in trouble. When profit becomes more important than success or the fans, then its no longer a sport but simply a business. We cannot allow that to happen and to help prevent it, we need to rid the game of people like that and get the money in football under control. Only then can the beautiful game begin to look beautiful once more. Kick the rebels owners out, send a message that avarice will not diminish our game further. Lets start to put things right in the footballing world.” Yeah, nice idea. But the only way to get these owners out is for alternative owners to come along with an absolutely massive cheque, and who are they going to be? The problem is cultural and structural, it was not caused by the owners of six clubs, but by the system that let them in - and now there’s no easy way to get them out.
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#1979e6
MatchDay Commentator
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May 20, 2018 17:24:36 GMT
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Post by Webster on Apr 20, 2021 18:49:31 GMT
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#1979e6
MatchDay Commentator
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Post by Webster on Apr 20, 2021 18:51:55 GMT
(The Guardian) A good point here from the Financial Times' Simon Kuper...
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#1979e6
MatchDay Commentator
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Post by Webster on Apr 20, 2021 19:12:38 GMT
(The Guardian) There’s a great book to be written about the events of the last 72 hours.
Apparently a Zoom call between the 12 Super League teams is in progress right now.
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#1979e6
MatchDay Commentator
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Post by Webster on Apr 20, 2021 19:51:32 GMT
(The Guardian) “For years to come, Super League will be a byword (or two) for greed and incompetence on an unimaginable scale,” says Julian Gauld. “Incredible to think that these [silly people] sat down together in advance and convinced each other that it was a good idea and that they would be able to ride this out. Hopefully this will be the death of the super league idea forever, although it has had the startling effect of making Uefa the good guys so that they can push through their own dreadful reforms of the European Cup. Greedy [bad people], the lot of the them.” Really the 2022 World Cup vote should have been the moment the sport went too far. Instead everyone involved in football administration were able to conclude that supporters are nothing but mindless cash dispensers, who will just accept whatever decisions are made, however despicable. Turns out there are some lines that can’t be crossed.
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