Scudamore scorns break talk
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Your support makes all the difference.The Premier League's senior administrator yesterday echoed Sven Goran Eriksson's call for a winter break – but he admitted that there was little prospect of his words being backed by action.
Richard Scudamore, the Premier League's chief executive, said that the winter break was "desirable but not practical". He added: "The experts say physiologically it would be an advantage, but it is impossible to fit into the calendar."
Scudamore explained: "There is no stomach among the clubs for a reduction in the size of the Premier League; we would not want, especially at this time of hardship for the Nationwide League, to give up the Worthington Cup; the Football Association are not going to want to give up replays in the FA Cup; and the international calendar is fixed.
"To fit in with it we would have to either extend the league into the summer or come back early.
"Two out of four years that is impossible because of the World Cup and the European Championship."
The obvious solution is to reduce the number of clubs in the Premiership to the 18 originally conceived by the FA, but there is no prospect of gaining the 14 votes required to support such a measure. To date only Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea are in favour.
Scudamore also dismissed the prospect of Celtic and Rangers joining the Premiership. They would not be, he said, "a useful addition to the brand. They need us more than we need them. There are so many preconditions, involving aspects such as European qualification, I cannot envisage it."
A European super league was, he believed, similarly unlikely. "As long as Uefa get the format right and the distribution of cash, there is no desire among the G14 group of clubs, or any others, to break away," he said.
One development which has occurred this summer, but which was outside the Premiership's influence, was the decision to allow Wimbledon's owners to move the club to Milton Keynes. It was not a decision which found the favour with the chief executive.
"I was surprised and appalled," he said. "I cannot think that if it was put to the Premier League it would have been the same outcome. If Wimbledon cannot support a league club they should be allowed to fall to their level just as if Milton Keynes can support one they should achieve it through promotion. Franchising is a ridiculous way to go about it."
However, Scudamore admitted that, should Wimbledon gain promotion back to the Premier League once they are based in Milton Keynes, it would not be possible to bar their promotion. But he added: "It doesn't seem or sound right and I think there is a flawed logic on the part of the owners."
Scudamore's previous post was chief executive of the Football League, and he said he believed that his former employers would be better equipped to survive their current crisis if they stuck together. "The brand strength is in having 72 clubs, in being a 'nationwide' Nationwide League."
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