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I don't think this is about creating a new league, more about making the CL into a private club - by invitation only
link in this tweetThe 'big five' Premier League clubs broadly support the way European football is run at present and think the current Champions League format works well.
However, it has been clear to them at recent Uefa and ECA meetings that some major clubs on the continent (especially in Spain and Italy) do not share that view.
Those clubs are said to be worried about how competitive they can be in the future against their Premier League counterparts, who will benefit from huge financial advantage when the new TV deals kick in from next season.
Those clubs on the continent (apparently) want the Champions League to be a more powerful proposition for fans and broadcasters, so that every game is a big game - thus increasing the broadcast value of matches and consequently their income.
They are said to want more matches against the biggest clubs from the biggest leagues, rather than matches against the champions of counties such as Kazakhstan.
In that context, it is not entirely surprising that someone has come forward with ideas and that is what happened in this meeting with Ross.
To be honest they would probably get larger crowds than any other club here lolLiverpool would get relagated into the Aussie league
It's never going to happen
Typical big club mentality.
"If you can't beat them, buy them!!"
My brother, a Liverpool fan, is absolutely disgusted with the whole idea, if it goes ahead he's seriously considering giving up on football altogether.
Why are Liverpool even at these talks when they have finished in the top 5 once since 2009?I seen the sun are reporting the English 'big 5' clubs (not Spurs natch) are in talk over euro breakaway league. So that explains where all the Spursy might have gone- we finally start getting somewhere then they go home and take their ball with them!nthey obviously want it like NFL.
In a way I hope it happens, that way all those glory hunting fans can deal with being mid table or worse every season.
Fuck it...let's do it anyway, who's with me?I'm up for dismantling the emirates.
Competitions like the Champions League exist because it is where all clubs are trying to get to. If it was a closed shop it would not be a champions league. US sports are so insular it's no wonder hardly any countries play their silly sports. They call the NBA champions (world champions FFS), no other country takes NFL seriously so no competition.
Closing off European football competitions to include only elite clubs could make them far richer, according to the American sports executive who has held talks with the leading English Premier League teams about a shake-up to long-established league structures.
The Relevant Sports chairman, Charlie Stillitano, held talks with Woolwich, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City and Manchester United on Tuesday in London about this year’s International Champions Cup (ICC), an annual pre-season friendly tournament organised by his company. Stillitano confirmed they also discussed “restructuring the Champions League” – an issue high on the European Club Association agenda amid a power vacuum at Uefa.
Stillitano revealed that the European governing body has been keen on working with the ICC, which already attracts some of the world’s wealthiest teams to compete in games across the globe for a lucrative but meaningless prize. “We have even talked to Uefa in the past because they had an interest in our summer tournament,” Stillitano told the US satellite radio station SiriusXM. “That is something they would like to integrate into their portfolio.”
Joining forces with Relevent’s ICC would currently be incompatible with Uefa’s existing sponsorships. There are no plans with Uefa presently on the table but discussions have not been closed off.
Woolwich are the only team from the talks to go on the record in denying they advocate a breakaway Super League for Europe’s leading clubs.
Discussions within the ECA about the merits of advocating guaranteed Champions League places for prestigious teams come at a time when Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United are all in danger of missing out on qualifying for Europe’s top competition next season.
“What would Manchester United argue: did we create soccer or did Leicester create [it]?” said Stillitano, who met United’s executive vice-chairman, Ed Woodward, on Tuesday. “Let’s call it the money pot created by soccer and the fandom around the world. Who has had more of an integral role, Manchester United or Leicester? It’s a wonderful, wonderful story – but you could see it from Manchester United’s point of view, too.”
If the Premier League season ended now, Leicester and Tottenham would qualify for the Champions League alongside Woolwich and Manchester City.
“Maybe that is absolutely spectacular unless you are a Manchester United fan, Liverpool fan … or a Chelsea fan,” Stillitano said. “I guess they don’t have a birthright to be in it every year but it’s the age-old argument: US sports franchises versus what they have in Europe. There are wonderful, wonderful, wonderful elements to relegation and promotion and there are good arguments for a closed system.”
Stillitano believes Europe’s biggest clubs deserve to make more cash from the Champions League, given their contribution to making it such a financial success. He said fans are more likely to watch the Juventus v Bayern Munich and Woolwich v Barcelona games in the current round of 16 rather than matches involving PSV Eindhoven and Ghent.
“This is going to sound arrogant and it’s the furthest thing from it … but suddenly when you see the teams we have this summer in the ICC you are going to shake your head and say, ‘Isn’t that the Champions League?’” Stillitano said. “No, the Champions League is PSV and Ghent.”
Voicing the complaints he hears from clubs, Stillitano said: “I could make a lot more money, I can be a lot more visible, I can help my sponsors out but right now I am locked into doing certain things that are really historic.”