And there were there eleven/ten/eight/????? (European Super League)

[nineveh_uk]

I've been following the news story of the proposed European Super League with a lot of interest over the past 48 hours. I'm not a football fan - I watch the odd international semi-/final every few years while doing something else - but this isn't just a football story. It's a sports, cultural, and political story, and above all its a story about international capitalism, and it's absolutely fascinating. As well as deeply dispiriting. Gary Neville's excoriation of the proposals has been widely shared and for obvious reasons, because it is so very obvious that this is nothing about football as a sport and all about football as a commodity, about greed.

As of this evening, it looks things are starting to fall apart. Fan backlash is high, FIFA and UEFA seem serious about their threats. It looks like Chelsea and Manchester City are withdrawing, Barcelona saying that members would have to approve, rumours of phone calls abound. We'll see what happens. But even if these plans are thwarted, the issue won't end here, because without reform of the financial structures, the vulnerability remains, the overwhelming desire of the astronomically rich to get even richer.

*Zero surprise that the big German clubs took one look at this and backed away rapidly.

Comments

[legionseagle]

Knew it would be City who were the first crack in the wall.

[legionseagle]

Wow. Gary Neville spouting Red revolution.