FIFA issues stern warning to prospective Super League teams
Posted: Thursday July 30, 1998 06:59 PM
LONDON (AP) -- It doesn't even exist yet. But the prospect of a
breakaway Super League looms so large over European soccer that
FIFA is already warning players and clubs who take part they'll be
kicked out of the game.
The British media is convinced the league will be set up within
two years, backed by pay-per-view TV and persuasive commercial
giants such as Italian TV magnate Silvio Berlusconi.
According to the papers, established UEFA-backed competitions
and domestic leagues will be powerless to stop clubs such as Inter
and AC Milan, Juventus, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich,
Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool from joining the Super
League by the year 2000.
While speculation abounds amid reports of secret meetings, the
clubs are saying nothing. Only those against the concept are making
any noise about it.
FIFA, soccer's world governing body, has warned that anyone who
takes part in defiance of UEFA will be banned from playing at any
other level of the game, from domestic leagues to the World Cup.
"If this league were to be run or led by elements outside the
football community of UEFA or the national associations, or without
their backing, we would not permit it," said FIFA spokesman Keith
Cooper.
"If a league were set up in defiance of UEFA it would lead to
the suspension of the clubs concerned and their players.
"Any players would be banned from playing any kind of
professional football, including international matches, until the
suspension were lifted. That's the barrier they have to cross."
UEFA, which stands to lose the most in terms of prestige, issued
a statement Thursday saying that the feedback it had received from
the individual national associations indicated the clubs weren't
interested in the Super League.
"UEFA takes it for granted that the clubs in question will not
make any commitment to any such private party which would
jeopardize their future participation in national and international
competitions," the statement read.
The idea of a Super League has been talked about in secret for
some time.
According to the tabloid Daily Mail, meetings took place at the
London offices of a firm of lawyers as recently as last week
between club owners and legal representatives of Super League
backers.
The meetings were in such secrecy that security staff made sure
that the floors above and below the rooms were off limits to staff
and documents relating to the discussions were shredded.
Several press reports suggest Berlusconi, owner of AC Milan and
a former Italian Premier, is the leading mover behind the Super
League. His TV companies likely would profit hugely from pulling
Europe's biggest clubs into one star-studded competition.
Critics say that such a league would make the rich clubs even
richer while the vast majority which don't play in the Super League
would lose TV revenue and prestige. They would also be competing
for UEFA competitions which wouldn't have the gloss of big-name
involvement.
Because Super League speculation has been around for more than a
decade, UEFA has taken steps to strengthen its own competitions to
keep them more attractive to the big clubs.
It created a league system within the Champions Cup so that the
leading eight clubs go automatically into the last 24 and play in
groups before reverting to the knockout formula from the
quarterfinal onwards.
UEFA has even changed the group format from six groups of four
to four groups of six next season so that the clubs will gain
higher revenue from more games.
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