Now we’re over the target. Ambramovic is a cash funnel for his circle of oligarchs. Each country will have similar “banks”. Mendes is no doubt a big player. Time to delveinto Portugal’s history, who has historically run things for centuries?
Wow. Yes, money laundering and match fixing is pretty much par for the course throughout. The media don’t touch any of it and if you try to shed some light on it you get murdered. See Daphne Caruana Galizia , God rest her soul. A brave tenacious woman.
If the ESL has no promotion-to/relegation-from then it’ll be BS, because there should be some association with ‘footballing performance’.
Football is a ‘money game’ – yes. But if you are keeping poor footballing teams in the ESL, and keeping good footballing clubs from entering the ESL.. then you have crossed a red line. I agree with the pundits and media moaning… because it is a step too far.
If the big clubs have got themselves into this mess, then more fault on them. If they think that creating a closed-club of a league will help them… it might succeed in the short term… in the long term the ESL will wither on the vine (in the UK at least)… because the politicians will step in and back the FA.
This’ll be Kerry Packer mark 2…. and when football players and fans see the effect of it… they’ll swap their allegiances away from these ‘big clubs’ for proper clubs that actually succeed on the performance of their football matches. Sponsors will move away from these Elite clubs in their ivory tower league… and it will all fail.
Spurs will get bought out cheap from a bankrupting Levy. We will have lost a lot of good players by then, and fined ‘points’, relegated to league one or two… but will be able to start over again Levy-less.
That ship sailed many years ago I’m afraid. The moment the premier league was born was the moment money won. What ‘ammuses’ me is that those making the most noise against, are vested interests in the status quo.
The whole football ediface is a house of cards waiting to collapse; in some ways it would be a good thing and the proposed model works – you see it in cricket, rugby, motorsport (formula one) and American sports. It is crap for fans of the not entitled, yes, but ultimately it’s where the big money goes and therefore it keeps rolling over like a giant ponzi scheme.
The European courts can’t block it because they’d have to block all other sports too and they’d be hit for restraint of trade; finally the football league, the premier league, uefa and fifa don’t hold the magic keys to control all football, nor the moral compass – it’s a universal game, played in parks with shirts for goals. All those leagues can do is own a set of rules – association football rules – and others are entitled to create their own games with similar rules – fusebal, five-a-side etc etc.
I just can’t see how it can be stopped, other than fans refusing to buy the product. Which won’t happen.
Thenight
2 years ago
How many home games will be played away from the Lane.
Home games in China or wherever don’t do it for me.
Enic have already stolen the Soul of our Great club, when the team goes too no matter how crap they are, What’s Left ?.
Maybe these clubs should look at the post Covid world and stop paying such exorbitant wages.
Keith Browning
2 years ago
I think there may be another aspect of this tirade of money loses and little to do with football directly, but as a form of money laundering. I arrived to live in Portugal in summer 2008, just as the results of a major football scandal (golden whistle) were being announced. It centred around referees being bribed and when you called for room service they usually got more than a glass of red wine.
It was called the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apito_Dourado, but barely got a mention outside Portugal.
The offences occurred in 2004 and affected the big boys of Portugal, who were duly punished with points deductions and Boa Vista were relegated. What was overlooked in Portugal and across Europe is that 2004 was the same year when the ‘special one’ appeared on the scene, with Porto winning the Champions League. Jose moved on to Chelsea and so did nearly £300 million worth of players over the following years. (all from Porto to Chelsea) – the cash ending up in the Porto club bank account. Further dealings continued between the two clubs, including manager Vilas Boas becoming manager.
So, in reality an awful lot of money went from a Russian oligarch into Portugal. Could the ESL be founded on a similar method of transferring huge sums of money around Europe, all seemingly quite legally..!
East Stand
2 years ago
Levy will never patch things up with the fans now, too much water under the bridge…
James Kirkness
2 years ago
I think that the ESL will happen as the potential revenue streams and profits massively outweigh the meagre punitive fines UEFA will use to try and stop this from happening. Add to this the new broadcasters DAZN. They are extremely well financed and the ESL would give them the ideal product to globally increase their market share just as Sky did when they formed the Premier League. As a pub owner I can tell you Sky do not give a monkeys about community, history, loyalty or people. It’s just about rinsing the pubs for as much cash as they can get. You’ve been shut for 8 months? Pay us. You’ve had a fire? Pay us. We have decided to show the cricket World Cup Final on free to air tv, breaking the conditions that you signed up to? Pay us. Sky are the biggest hypocrites in this whole thing. Would have been interesting to hear what Gary Neville and Co would have said if their bosses were the architects of the ESL. Football has changed and is going to change, whether we like it or not, and the bottom line will always be king.
James McKevitt.
2 years ago
Barcelona had to borrow over £500 million from Goldman Sachs partly to pay wages and money owed from transfer fees.
They have been told to reduce their wage bill by the Spanish League. Time will tell if they do or else look to the Euro Super League to bail them out.
If FIFA or UEFA (God help us) don’t get a grip on these spendthrift clubs they’ll bring the whole football pyramid crashing down.
Now we’re over the target. Ambramovic is a cash funnel for his circle of oligarchs. Each country will have similar “banks”. Mendes is no doubt a big player. Time to delveinto Portugal’s history, who has historically run things for centuries?
Seems inevitable.
Lots to think about. Thanks.
Wow. Yes, money laundering and match fixing is pretty much par for the course throughout. The media don’t touch any of it and if you try to shed some light on it you get murdered. See Daphne Caruana Galizia , God rest her soul. A brave tenacious woman.
Interesting read, thank you.
If the ESL has no promotion-to/relegation-from then it’ll be BS, because there should be some association with ‘footballing performance’.
Football is a ‘money game’ – yes. But if you are keeping poor footballing teams in the ESL, and keeping good footballing clubs from entering the ESL.. then you have crossed a red line. I agree with the pundits and media moaning… because it is a step too far.
If the big clubs have got themselves into this mess, then more fault on them. If they think that creating a closed-club of a league will help them… it might succeed in the short term… in the long term the ESL will wither on the vine (in the UK at least)… because the politicians will step in and back the FA.
This’ll be Kerry Packer mark 2…. and when football players and fans see the effect of it… they’ll swap their allegiances away from these ‘big clubs’ for proper clubs that actually succeed on the performance of their football matches. Sponsors will move away from these Elite clubs in their ivory tower league… and it will all fail.
Spurs will get bought out cheap from a bankrupting Levy. We will have lost a lot of good players by then, and fined ‘points’, relegated to league one or two… but will be able to start over again Levy-less.
That ship sailed many years ago I’m afraid. The moment the premier league was born was the moment money won. What ‘ammuses’ me is that those making the most noise against, are vested interests in the status quo.
The whole football ediface is a house of cards waiting to collapse; in some ways it would be a good thing and the proposed model works – you see it in cricket, rugby, motorsport (formula one) and American sports. It is crap for fans of the not entitled, yes, but ultimately it’s where the big money goes and therefore it keeps rolling over like a giant ponzi scheme.
The European courts can’t block it because they’d have to block all other sports too and they’d be hit for restraint of trade; finally the football league, the premier league, uefa and fifa don’t hold the magic keys to control all football, nor the moral compass – it’s a universal game, played in parks with shirts for goals. All those leagues can do is own a set of rules – association football rules – and others are entitled to create their own games with similar rules – fusebal, five-a-side etc etc.
I just can’t see how it can be stopped, other than fans refusing to buy the product. Which won’t happen.
How many home games will be played away from the Lane.
Home games in China or wherever don’t do it for me.
Enic have already stolen the Soul of our Great club, when the team goes too no matter how crap they are, What’s Left ?.
Maybe these clubs should look at the post Covid world and stop paying such exorbitant wages.
I think there may be another aspect of this tirade of money loses and little to do with football directly, but as a form of money laundering. I arrived to live in Portugal in summer 2008, just as the results of a major football scandal (golden whistle) were being announced. It centred around referees being bribed and when you called for room service they usually got more than a glass of red wine.
It was called the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apito_Dourado, but barely got a mention outside Portugal.
The offences occurred in 2004 and affected the big boys of Portugal, who were duly punished with points deductions and Boa Vista were relegated. What was overlooked in Portugal and across Europe is that 2004 was the same year when the ‘special one’ appeared on the scene, with Porto winning the Champions League. Jose moved on to Chelsea and so did nearly £300 million worth of players over the following years. (all from Porto to Chelsea) – the cash ending up in the Porto club bank account. Further dealings continued between the two clubs, including manager Vilas Boas becoming manager.
So, in reality an awful lot of money went from a Russian oligarch into Portugal. Could the ESL be founded on a similar method of transferring huge sums of money around Europe, all seemingly quite legally..!
Levy will never patch things up with the fans now, too much water under the bridge…
I think that the ESL will happen as the potential revenue streams and profits massively outweigh the meagre punitive fines UEFA will use to try and stop this from happening. Add to this the new broadcasters DAZN. They are extremely well financed and the ESL would give them the ideal product to globally increase their market share just as Sky did when they formed the Premier League. As a pub owner I can tell you Sky do not give a monkeys about community, history, loyalty or people. It’s just about rinsing the pubs for as much cash as they can get. You’ve been shut for 8 months? Pay us. You’ve had a fire? Pay us. We have decided to show the cricket World Cup Final on free to air tv, breaking the conditions that you signed up to? Pay us. Sky are the biggest hypocrites in this whole thing. Would have been interesting to hear what Gary Neville and Co would have said if their bosses were the architects of the ESL. Football has changed and is going to change, whether we like it or not, and the bottom line will always be king.
Barcelona had to borrow over £500 million from Goldman Sachs partly to pay wages and money owed from transfer fees.
They have been told to reduce their wage bill by the Spanish League. Time will tell if they do or else look to the Euro Super League to bail them out.
If FIFA or UEFA (God help us) don’t get a grip on these spendthrift clubs they’ll bring the whole football pyramid crashing down.