All the talk last season of a Super League
in Europe was made tangible recently when the 14 richest teams met
in Brussels to form a joint company. As a reaction to this move other clubs from
the so-called 'second-tier' nations (Holland, Scotland, Portugal and Belgium)
met in Amsterdam on Friday to discuss proposals to be presented to European
Football's governing body UEFA. This would lead to a Euro-League including such
clubs as Ajax, PSV, Feyenoord, Celtic, Glasgow Rangers and Benfica.
The driving force behind the move is the hunt for
money to be earnt from television rights - a gap is appearing between the money
paid to teams in the more lucrative leagues in Europe and that received by
others in the second-tier countries. The aim is to create a potential television
audience of up to 43 million viewers, thereby cranking up the potential money to
be earned from televised football. The top Scottish clubs, for example, earn a mere
8.5 million Euros a season compared to up to 18 million Euros in England (a
figure set to rise to up to 50 million). The new league could increase the
potential tv-earnings for its members to 35 million Euros per club.
It can't be long before the super rich clubs of
Europe make their next move in response to these latest proposals. All this can
mean only one thing - the creation of two new leagues in Europe! UEFA will
have its work cut out trying to halt this process and is more likely to do its
best to minimize the negative effects for the remaining clubs in the various
domestic leagues. This looks like a train which is not going to stop or be
stopped! Watch this site for news of more developments as they happen.
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