Premier League allowing deal shows money and international reputation laundering can trump concerns about the regimeThe great game of football has always been an expression of the country and times in which it is played, so the takeover of Newcastle United by a Saudi Arabian investment fund radiates the widest of reflections about the state that England is in.On the very same day that the prime minister hailed the collapse of the European Super League breakaway as a triumph for our moral sporting values, the Premier League was preparing to approve a fund financed by the super-rich, murderous Saudi state as a fit and proper owner for one of our great clubs. Continue reading...
The travails of the traditional European elite as new money dominated the transfer window suggest things have changedIn times of crisis, the winners are usually the rich. As clubs across Europe continue to struggle against the financial impact of the pandemic, the lesson of this transfer window is that the powerful are mopping up. Or at least they are if they are well-run, which rules out the two Spanish giants and several clubs in Italy.The transfers of the two players who have defined football for a generation understandably generated great excitement, with fans camping out at the airport in Paris to welcome Lionel Messi and queuing round the block to buy a shirt with his name on the back while...
Premier League waved through a debt-loading takeover of Manchester United from which the family make fortunesIn 2005, a generation ago now, when supporters were first protesting against the pending takeover of Manchester United by the Glazer family, the approach of the football authorities was mostly to brush off their concerns. There seemed to be a sense among the blazers in the Football Association and the Premier League suits that the fans just did not really understand the mystique of a corporate takeover, or the excitements of having “investors” from America. Related: Gary Neville and Roy Keane express support for United fans’ protests Continue reading...
Super League shambles shows the focus must not be on short-term gain even as search for sustainability goes onThe European Super League saga may, for now, be over but fallout from the shambolic breakaway attempt rumbles on.“As soon as practicable after the start of the men’s competition, a corresponding women’s league will also be launched, helping to advance and develop the women’s game,” the ESL launch statement proclaimed. Related: ‘It’s been a pleasure and privilege’: Fara Williams to retire at end of the season Europe's most successful women's football team, Lyon, have hired a female coach for the first time with former academy director Sonia Bompastor replacing Jean-Luc Vasseur. Continue reading...
European football’s dirty dozen must not be allowed to slip back into their routines. Now is the time to get vindictiveThose of you with a taste for these things will have noted the irony: a competition designed to eliminate promotion and relegation in perpetuity somehow managed to shed half its teams in a single evening. One by one the scions of the European Super League fell, like spurned pastry chefs in a televised baking competition: first the prize flans of Chelsea and Manchester City, then the rest of the English clubs late on Tuesday night, then Atlético Madrid and the two Milan clubs on Wednesday morning. Farewell then, Super League. You promised a leaner, more tightly-focused vision of football, and...