A Exclusive European league goes against the spirit of football
The football world is shaken by this new project of the European Super League. This project first appeared in 2016 and has seen his popularity growing up. In the Champions League, we have seen a period of domination from Real Madrid where the Spaniards won three titles in a row and clubs such Manchester City and Paris-Saint-Germain getting more regularly in the higher stages of the competition. Although its aim, at first, is to be alongside the existing European Club competitions, where the clubs competing in Europa League would compete in the Champions League. It could be possible to see it as a long-term replacement of the Champions League.
In this current project, there is no upgrading system for the team who perform best in the Second European league that resembles the existing one between Europa League and Champions League.
This league is an interesting proposal because of its very exclusive line-up which presented in the following charts:
This project looks interesting to UEFA for multiple reasons.
First of all, the teams who would be allowed to join the league are the ones with the biggest fan-bases across Europe and beyond. Henceforth, this possible league would bring a lot of money to clubs which could help them to recover after the COVID-19 crisis.
Second of all, the league is going to generate more money from the broadcasting industry than the current UEFA Champions League. All the big names are going to be here to play which partly assures a show every game. All the big players will play or want to play there because none of them will want to be stuck in clubs that do not offer this opportunity.
To concluded, it is a major trend in all championships in football and beyond to pursue sponsorship money and create something that will please the stakeholders.
But let's be honest here ? Is that the future of football ?
Football is a game that everyone can play. Building a field does not require anything specific, the rules are simple and you can play with whoever you want. That's what football is truly about.
You can understand the attractiveness of league with information given above. However, is that where the roots of football ?
First and foremost, the attractiveness of the big names is what makes the highest level of Champions League so good. The teams that go further down in the championship are the won that often have the best overall team or the best style of play. You will lose that sense of rarity because you will Juventus- Real Madrid every week.
Furthermore, there is no rewarding system for the teams have short term success in their domestic championship. Because the qualifying selection is mostly based on repetitive times a team has qualified for the Champions League. A team like Atalanta that has had numerous good performances in Serie A won't be given the opportunity to face the best teams in Europe. We won't be able to see an underdog team like Ajax Amsterdam in 2018 take town the favorites of the competition and lose in the semis to another underdog team Tottenham.
Here is my take on the topic. The fact you probably already had your opinion won't be changed by this.
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