The European Super League is a grotesque betrayal of football

Editorial: This greedy proposal will drain the sport of its essential elements of competition and aspiration

Monday 19 April 2021 21:48 BST
Comments
(Seamus Jennings)

Given that Tottenham Hotspur have just committed to joining the new European Super League, it is fair to wonder why they bothered to fire their underperforming manager, Jose Mourinho.

With his team lying in seventh place in the Premier League, and thus, as things stand, ineligible for a place in the lucrative and prestigious Uefa Champions League next season, such a move would be, on traditional grounds, understandable. However, soon, if the planned super league goes ahead, it doesn’t matter that much where Spurs finish in the table. Their place in the super league is retained in perpetuity. They might not win it, but they could never be relegated. They could substitute star players, such as Harry Kane and Son Heung-min, for a few Sunday league players with impunity.

More realistically, Spurs might find themselves unable to keep up with the vast spending required to have much chance of winning in the super league, given that Manchester City are, in effect, funded by a sovereign state, and the rest by multi-billionaires. The best players would be bought from the rest of football – globally – by clubs in the European Super League; but also by the very richest clubs in the super league from the weaker (relatively) members of the super league.

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