ClapThe beautiful game has changed and shifted many times over the years and more often than not, the excuse given for the changes is always the same – they’re trying to move football forward.
The only problem with that is the one group of people who are never consulted are the ones who matter the most: the fans.
As such, it shouldn’t come as all too much of a surprise that the European Super League that was announced on Sunday was pretty much dead within 48 hours.
The whole idea revolved around money and all 12 owners of the “founding member” clubs should be absolutely ashamed. In addition to tarnishing the name of their own clubs they’ve also dragged down the sport as a whole, and for what?
Did they really expect there to be absolutely no backlash to such a crazy idea?
We aren’t pretending like reforms aren’t needed because they definitely are, and we’d be pretty upset if we didn’t see them. UEFA needs to rethink their new Champions League format, we have to try and regulate the money in the game and, arguably most importantly, the 50+1 rule from Germany needs to be introduced.
Fans are the ones who need to have the kind of say that matters. It’s all well and good throwing out these vague platitudes about how much the owners really care, but they don’t. Pretending like they do is an insult and a slap in the face to everyone who has ever cheered on their side – either from the stands or from home.
The next big question is a big one too: what sanctions can be brought upon the teams involved?
We don’t think it’s unfair to leave every possible suggestion on the table and we’re including point deductions in that equation. We aren’t the ones who should decide what that deduction would be or what sort of fines they want to implement, but it’s clear to see we can’t all just move on from this.
Too many supporters have been hurt by these suggestions and too many know what it feels like to be forgotten about by their clubs.
There are arguments to be made about VAR and how damaging that, in itself, is for football, but this goes above and beyond the call of duty. This threatens the very fabric of what we’ve all been trying to build for well over 100 years in this country and across the continent.
Many American pundits seem to think they know better, and seem to believe the monopoly they’ve created in their own big sports will work over here. Unfortunately, it just doesn’t work like that, and they all need to accept that things are different in Europe.
Football is so much more than just a game here, to the point where most would actually call it a religion. We understand that sounds quite dramatic and perhaps a bit over the top, but we think it’s true.
Get the 50+1 rule in and fix the game we all love so much.
