Kick it into touch...

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Gob
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Kick it into touch...

Post by Gob »

Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham are among 12 clubs who have agreed to join a new European Super League (ESL).

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In a seismic move for European football, the Premier League clubs will join AC Milan, Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Inter Milan, Juventus and Real Madrid.

The ESL said the founding clubs had agreed to establish a "new midweek competition" with teams continuing to "compete in their respective national leagues".

'I'm disappointed and disgusted' - ex-Liverpool and Tottenham midfielder Murphy
It said the inaugural season was "intended to commence as soon as practicable" and "anticipated that a further three clubs" would join the breakaway.

The ESL said it also planned to launch a women's competition as soon as possible after the men's tournament starts.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Uefa and the Premier League condemned the move when the news broke on Sunday.

World governing body Fifa had previously said it would not recognise such a competition, and any players involved could be denied the chance to play at a World Cup.

Uefa, Europe's governing body, reiterated that warning on Sunday when it said players involved would be banned from all other competitions at domestic, European or world level and could be prevented from representing their national teams.

After the Super League was announced, Fifa expressed its "disapproval" of the proposed competition and called on "all parties involved in heated discussions to engage in calm, constructive and balanced dialogue for the good of the game".

In a statement, the ESL said: "Going forward, the founding clubs look forward to holding discussions with Uefa and Fifa to work together in partnership to deliver the best outcomes for the new league and for football as a whole."


https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/56795811
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”

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MajGenl.Meade
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Re: Kick it into touch...

Post by MajGenl.Meade »

And then kick it out of the ground. Bastards going for the super-cash. Devalues all other competitions. Perhaps death-knell for some clubs' participation in the League Cup. Spurs aren't good enough to beat bloody Newcastle let alone playing this foreign buggers over and over
For Christianity, by identifying truth with faith, must teach-and, properly understood, does teach-that any interference with the truth is immoral. A Christian with faith has nothing to fear from the facts

ex-khobar Andy
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Re: Kick it into touch...

Post by ex-khobar Andy »

Interesting. No French, German, or Dutch sides. I suspect it will go the way of Kerry Packer's 'rebel' cricket association, or USFL which was set up in the 1980s (by, among others, one Donald J Trump) to compete with the NFL. Despite the corruption endemic at FIFA and probably at subsidiary bodies such as UEFA and the (English) FA, these entities are a necessary evil. If, as is threatened, players in this super league would not be eligible for national selection, the public will lose interest.

ex-khobar Andy
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Re: Kick it into touch...

Post by ex-khobar Andy »

And from this morning . . . I don't suppose there is any connection.

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MajGenl.Meade
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Re: Kick it into touch...

Post by MajGenl.Meade »

Supposedly no connection. Good riddance. At least one can hope Spurs won't do what Chelsea did - fire him, rehire him and then fire him again.
Letting go of Mourinho is undeniably bad news for the club’s hierarchy given the huge expense of hiring him – the Portuguese is believed to earning close to £12m a year – and the fact he arrived as a replacement for Mauricio Pochettino, who was popular with the fanbase having led Tottenham to consistently high finishes in the Premier League and to the Champions League final in 2019.
He wasn't worth £12 a year. Meanwhile, our hero, good ole 'Pockets', is leading PSG into the Champions League semi-finals (vs. Man City).

Meanwhile, back at the pots talking to kettles:
The Premier League

“The Premier League condemns any proposal that attacks the principles of open competition and sporting merit which are at the heart of the domestic and European football pyramid. Fans of any club in England and across Europe can currently dream that their team may climb to the top and play against the best. We believe that the concept of a European super league would destroy this dream. [It] will have a deeply damaging impact on the immediate and future prospects of the Premier League."

Uefa

"We and all our member associations will remain united in our efforts to stop this cynical project, a project that is founded on the self-interest of a few clubs at a time when society needs solidarity more than ever. We will consider all measures available to us, at all levels, both judicial and sporting in order to prevent this happening. The clubs concerned will be banned from playing in any other competition, and their players could be denied the opportunity to represent their national teams."
For Christianity, by identifying truth with faith, must teach-and, properly understood, does teach-that any interference with the truth is immoral. A Christian with faith has nothing to fear from the facts

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Long Run
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Re: Kick it into touch...

Post by Long Run »

The rich trying to get richer. Sounds a bit like U.S. college football.

ex-khobar Andy
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Re: Kick it into touch...

Post by ex-khobar Andy »

The NYT take on this is that people will watch anyway; and it's not unlike the US model. The NFL and NBA etc are closed shops: no matter how badly a team does it won't be relegated and its future is safe. (In the UK and other domestic football leagues there are a series of divisions from the very marginal to the superclubs: the winners and losers of any division (top two and bottom two I think but that might have changed) are relegated or promoted for the next season. There is no way that the NCAA winner gets to play in the NBA next year although conceivably they are better than the worst NBA team.)

This could be interesting. At least so far I have not seen it called FEXIT but it's just a matter of time . . .

Big RR
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Re: Kick it into touch...

Post by Big RR »

If, as is threatened, players in this super league would not be eligible for national selection, the public will lose interest.
Somehow, I seriously doubt that organizations like Fifa will bar some of the best players in the game from competition. They'll yell and scream how this is ruining competition, and then back down if those players ignore the threats and pay in the league; kind of like when the Olympics barred anyone who played professionally, and then reversed their position, or like Fifa's new rules on ability to play on a particular national team. If this catches on, they will come around.

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Gob
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Re: Kick it into touch...

Post by Gob »

It's cause a big groundswell of (mainly anti) opinion here. IT's knocked Covid and Brexit off the headlines, (thank fuck.)
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”

ex-khobar Andy
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Re: Kick it into touch...

Post by ex-khobar Andy »

I did like this heading in the Guardian:
Florentino Pérez’s absurd attempt to justify the €uropean $uper £eague
Says it all, really.

Big RR
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Re: Kick it into touch...

Post by Big RR »

True, but then isn't money the point of professional sports?

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MajGenl.Meade
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Re: Kick it into touch...

Post by MajGenl.Meade »

Well Chelsea and Man City just dropped out. Roman Abramovich is totally pissed that his Chelsea money managers told him it would all be a storm in a teacup. He's pulled them out. Man City's manager opposed and made the excellent point that sport is not being guaranteed to never lose out. The sky is falling on the money-grubbing bastards.
For Christianity, by identifying truth with faith, must teach-and, properly understood, does teach-that any interference with the truth is immoral. A Christian with faith has nothing to fear from the facts

ex-khobar Andy
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Re: Kick it into touch...

Post by ex-khobar Andy »

And the other English clubs (Spurs, Man U, Liverpool and Arsenal) have dropped out; and apparently Barcelona and one of the Madrid clubs are on the point of deciding to follow suit.

The Guardian is doing a play-by-play.

AC Milan. I think this one is done and dusted.

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Gob
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Re: Kick it into touch...

Post by Gob »

God, signs of sanity, whatever next....
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”

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