Barca, for a new European League
The European Club Association proposes to distance themselves from UEFA and create a new European Super League from 2014.
According to Catalan sports paper Sport, Barca supports the intent of the ECA, the European Club Association, forcing both UEFA and FIFA to radically change their relationship with the football bodies. The president of the ECA, the former German footballer Karl-Heinz Rummenige and Sandro Rosell himself, Vice President, consider that the current Champions League should generate far more income for the European clubs that participate in it and consider seriously, along with the other teams in Europe (Real Madrid, Chelsea, Manchester United, Milan, Inter, Arsenal, etc.) to create a European league to replace the Champions League.
This is a proposal that has always been on the minds of the major clubs in European football, but UEFA, in turn, satisfied these clubs by distributing a larger piece of the pie. Now though, the big clubs begin to think those revenues could be a lot larger if the rights of the competition could be negotiated individually by the clubs. The ECA will organize the tournament, draft the regulations, hire the referees and cede the rights to a company for distribution internationally.
ECA president Rummenige recently labeled FIFA’s body as “corrupt”, while Barca also denounces the abuse made by FIFA and their associations, such as RFEF or CBF, in international matches. A study of ECA shows that the average number of days that international players spend with their national teams went from 107 days per year before the World Cup to 137 days after the World Cup tournament. That is, each time, players of the major clubs spend more time with their national teams, almost the same as with their clubs.
ECA wants to put an end to these abuses because clubs are the ones who pay the players salaries and only receive a paltry consideration in return. They want the international calendar to be reduced to a minimum, the national selections to pay a proportional part of the players salaries, depending on the days spent with the national team and, above all, the FIFA and national team should provide insurance pay to cover any injury. The key to the success of this revolution, which will be launched in late August at the meeting with UEFA and FIFA, is that fifteen major European clubs are already strongly involved.
Barca = European League Chapions 2014-2015
Champions*
lets win every ucl final until 2014!!!!
If any bigger economic crisis appears this league would collapse. I prefer current leagues and UCL but I agree with minimizing the national team involvement.
And I am more than sure that this league would not be FREE of corruption or disagreements which would lead to bad image of the league. I just don't believe any "hug the world" projects in any business area. They just don't work and it is more called idealism than reality.
Stupid Idea in my opinion they should not do this because all teams already have a league so they go through a long intresting season we don't need another league, which would involve more traveling with is tiring. CHAMPIONS LEAGUE is sooooo competitive, The feeling you get in your stomach when your team reachs far is amazing and plus knockout rounds are amazing no need to replace that. No team has won it 2 years in a row hopefully barca will change that this season. Internationals should be shortened YESSSS.
Nottingham Forest has won it 2 times in a row
The European Cup, not the Champions League.
With Robin Hood as Coach!!!
Read Marid won it 5 times in a row, Bayern and Ajax both won it 3 times in a row, but since 1990 no one won it twice in a row.
like a super european league??? would be very competitive week in week out. and all the travelling wouldn't be good!
we already have more than 60 games a season to play, adding this could be very detrimental to our players.
Its not adding to the schedule, rather replacing the UEFA Champions League.
So, I understand why clubs want to do this but I don't understand exactly how it would work. Can someone explain what exactly the European Super League would be like? What would the format be? Would it basically be like the Champions League but run by ECA instead of UEFA? Would it be the same clubs participating every year? Any info would be great.
Wenger talked about a European Superleague a few years ago. He proposed that clubs play their usual domestic league competition on weekdays, then have European superleague on tuesday/wedneday or thursday. Arsenal and other big clubs thought it was a good idea due to very large squad lists, that are ever increasing over the years.
The prospect of a European Superleague would allow more playing time and match experience for 'bench-warmers', young players and players who are not first team regulars.
The other reason is to put pressure on FIFA and UEFA to reduce the international football calendar. Clubs generate much lesser profit during World Cup years, because of the shortened season, and so the club have less money to pay the players, not to mention the 'international injury bug', where players get injured playing for the NT, while the clubs get very little compensation.
Barça, however, have a rather small first-team squad. It might be more challenging for us than for the other European giants. We do not have as much depth as Madrid, Milan or Man Utd, so it might be difficult for our fist team to compete in two major league competitions week in week out. This might be good, if we are indeed looking to buy Cesc, so that everyone in the midfield can get minutes on the pitch…
Thanks for the info
I don't think I like the idea of it being a league of it's own as opposed to a knockout competition like the CL. It would also involve a lot more traveling around and, as you said, would be harder for clubs with smaller squads.
It will probably model after the same UCL except for the fact that it contains only the teams that matters at the moment [through recent records i presume]. I say a majority of big teams [4 EPL, 2-3 LFP, 2-3 Serie A] do make it to first KO round. Once in awhile you'll get the guppies in first KO pass that and pass QT into semis, but its rare. Its even rarer to win UCL. A majority of viewership for neutrals is watching clashes like barca v milan, barca v bayern, barca v arsenal etc. not barca v porto.
The only good I see from this is a smaller tournament. It means less games which brings all the benefits of rest.
The thing I dont like is that we wont see the guppies winning. Ajax used to big player but not anymore. This doesnt mean they wont come back, but if this league is exclusive to "top" 16 clubs, Ajax or whomever not in the super league wont have a chance to. ECA can also be corrupt too. Corruption usually follows anything that involves boat loads of money.
The best option is to keep UCL but to again somehow force UEFA to modify it current policies. This Super League talk is most likely just posturing by clubs to force UEFA to change policy. I don't see a super league coming to fruition in the foreseeable future and definitely not 2014-2015
well from 1 point of view we have not much back up, but if u consider the b team then u could say we have more depth than any team almost in the history of the game. there are so many potential world class players in the b team. the only reason these kids dont play much is that margin for error is almost non existed at the moment,hence y bojan left, not because he was rubbish.
Nice writing. Thank you.
Arsenal doesn't belong there
yeah they do
who else is going to give up easy points?
IF Fabregas and Nasri both go, and that's a big if because I think it won't happen, Arsenal can very well pull a Leeds. They won't be in Europe, lower finish = less TV money from Sky, and their acadamy isn't good enough to carry them through if more of their foreign star loses confidence and leave.
I'm not sure, so much extra travel time
So… how exactly would this differ from the CL, besides who runs it? Would the format, matchdays, qualifying etc all be the same? I agree on the stuff said about the National Team business, but…. idk, the CL has become such a HUGE part of modern football, to replace it or reinvent it would be a huge thing, and some might not like change. I know it has been done before, and I don't really like Uefa, but I will have to do some research on this before I can make a valid opinion :p
Barca will win it whether it is known as the UEFA Champions League, European Super League, or Polkadot Pony Lovemaking Banana Championships… bring on da titles rawwwwwwwwr
Not much info is out yet, but I remember reading somewhere that the competition will only consist of 16 teams unlike 32 in the current format, although I could be wrong. Rosell and Florentino also want the Spanish league to be reduced to 16 teams, though that is highly improbable. There could also be a huge boost in revenues from this competition of over 100 million per year (currently we earn 50m from UCL) so that is one of the major reasons for this 'revolution'.
When does the Polkadot Pony Lovemaking Banana Championships take place? I never heard of that tournament.
I hear this is pretty much a new league, where the big teams are one way or another selected, and compete in a league. Not like the CL, not knock-out matches every few months, but points system with games every week. If this true, I say no. No, no, no. FIFA and UEFA are terrible, and something absolutely needs to be done, but not this. This will not be good for football.
Off topic:
Pep in the action!!!!!!!!!!!!! <3
[youtube hEY3kdaA-No http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEY3kdaA-No youtube]
[youtube LmdGAfpd6x8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmdGAfpd6x8 youtube]
And one more:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPXz-IA6xr4
Haha, Kobe had to play the game in special shorts
OH MY GOD!!!!! 0.10 that air kiss from Pep. Someone hold me. I would probably die if I was at the other end of the kiss.
I think I have watched this video about 20 times, not good for my health
hah great video i just clapped excitedly when i saw "pep" played that ball hehe =)
OT as well
Messi and Friends – Estrellas del Mundo 5-4 (4-2) Highlights from Charity Game
[youtube sRzE8_8i0Hg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRzE8_8i0Hg youtube]
Damn, the younger Romario with Messi in Barca. What would it be? :p
A lot of jealousy.
my wet dream!!!
Although I do support the notion, It would be quite a shame for the smaller european clubs who have a chance to prove themselves in UCL. Look at Spurs, shaktar, Schalke in the previous season. Incredible performances for clubs who are not normally contenders or serious threats to the cup. I worry that these clubs won't be able to participate as much.
I think Fifa just needs a reboot. replace all the big positions.
I worry that with this, it'll be more like a heirarchy of clubs.
where all the big clubs get to play for a big prize and the smaller clubs don't get to participate unless they pay the association a big sum of money so the big clubs can buy the promising players off the smaller clubs.
Don't get me wrong. I do support the notion of protesting UEFA and FIFA's corruption, I think the new association might not be the best solution as it will inevitably promote heirarchy. the big clubs will play in the men's league and the small clubs in the children's league.
Therefore we won't see Newcastle's 4-4 revival against Arsenal, or Schalke's 5-3 thrashing of Inter. Big clubs will therefore once again be on a throne that small clubs aren't allowed to touch, simply because the club is more famous than the other.
If this is still going to happen, it must not be too much different from the current Champions League and Europa League.
CL – teams get drafted into groups, top 2 move on to knock out rounds. 2 leg games (not enough if only 1 leg) 1 final hosted at least 1 week after the end the season for which ever club's league ends last.
Europa – Teams drafted into groups, top team joins up with 3rd place groups from CL into knockout rounds.
Undoubtedly European football is the spotlight and standard where foorball is set. for Generations it has been FIFA governed. for generations these european clubs have played under FIFA.
However with the disorganization and corruption FIFA exhibits, (2002 South Korea match fixing, Qatar World Cup bribing etc etc…) a protest is called for. But I don't think this is the proper way to protest against FIFA. This move will rock the footballing world to it's foundations.
It would be a shame but people will forget in the long run. If this superleague is to work then I think it will be like what North American sports are like, only with the addenda of relegation and promotion. Example. A league is made up of, say, 16 of the best European teams (that too will break hearts but people will get over it. Few now recall the opposition to increasing the number of contestants in the CL back in the late 90s) spit into four divisions either by geography or whatever. The worst team in each division gets relegated while the best two have a playoff. Something like that, I think, would work just fine. The several european nations can still keep their leagues and the best of these leagues will play each other for the right to reach the big league. TV revenue for the domestic leagues will drop sharply but that's to be expected–how many people watch Serie B or Secunda A games? It's only an idea, and it might not even work. But that's the way it's heading. International football has been poor. The goals per game average since WC 2002 has barely reached 2. Compare that to the 2.75 for club football. International sides are only concerned with not losing. I mean, Paraguay, God bless them, won no games at all in the Copa and they went to the final.
But anyways. A European league is in the future and international football, in the professional sense, will be a thing of the past in 20 years. I think.
well the problem with the super 16 team league is that it doesn't take place solely in one country. Though NA is a big country, the players get get less stress from travelling through borders and by plane week in week out. What about the player's families?
a national league is in place because the clubs dont need to fly around the world week in week out to play for 90 mins. This is why CL is such a big thing. it allows the opportunity for us and the club to go face to face in a match that you don't see in league games.
normal league should still resume, but I also don't think that a super european league should be in the form of a 'league' also. small clubs have smaller source of good and reliable players. If they're running in 2 marathons at the same time they will have to give one up because there's no way lets say Valencia, will be able to beat Barcelona if Valencia must play in the super european league as well as the spanish league. They must give one up, which means that one of them will get boring. with knockout however, Valencia will still have a chance in lets say, the Spanish super cup because they won't need to worry about that game against Arsenal in the European Super cup when there's no way in hell they will get anything out of it.
which brings me to the point that knockout stages are much more fun than a purely point based system.
though it is biased, and often luck can help bring teams out of the gutter. (see Drogba screaming "it's a f-ing disgrace") Iniesta's incredible random pop at goal equalized and brought Barca to the finals in 2009. Let's be honest. Barcelona weren't looking enthusiastic in that game and if it wasn't for that splash of luck Iniesta had, Barca probably wouldn't have gone to the finals.
What would you say if the world cup was made into a marathon of points instead of knockouts?
isn't it a more fair way of testing which team is best? put them all against each other and see who gets the most wins? but is it the way that it is done? No.
It's all about the thrill and the excitement that one mistake will cost everything. and if the Super European League doesn't do what Champions League does with it's competition structure, I'm afraid it won't be as fun as before.
you don't just plonk the team names down on a wish list of teams in a league and go ahead with it!
Doesn't sound as prestigious as the UCL, if it's a knockout tournament, but if it is a full fledged league as arsene wenger suggested few years back, i.e. 20 teams with promotion and relegation system, i won't be surprised if the domestic leagues become sort of a reserve league and the first teams only play the super league. so the domestic leagues might suffer as a consequence.
or maybe all of this is just to avoid the financial fair play, who knows?
off topic:
barcastuff
B players Sergi Gomez and Deulofeu, who'll play the final of the Euro U19 today, will tomorrow travel to Miami to join the team. [md]
good news !!!!
Deulofeu should ofcourse play with the B team this season, But he will get some minutes this season. I bet! If he devolp he might be a man for the first team, in 1 or 2 years. But you never know. I dont think we need to buy Fabregas at all, We have Espinosa! We have Roberto etc… And offcourse Thiago! The B team and La Masia are so good, Almost to good, But some times players must go! Like Romeu, we get alomst 5 million for him! But like things are now it would be crazy to buy Fabregas.. When we have Xavi Iniesta and Thiago! Wait a few years, and then he might come, Afterall it was his choice to go to Arsenal. He wasnt forced away!
I didnt see the game against Man U. Cause i worked.. Can some please put 1-10 on this players!
Thiago
Espinosa
JDS
OTTTTTTT: you guys play fifa or pes?
I personally play in FIFA, a huge game, Ablshmtm note that Barcelona did the underrated? Messi on FIFA's just one of the weakest players in the game, same thing for dani avles and xavi and well, and the funniest thing in this game do all the English teams overrated!
You do not think that as the best football team in history, Barcelona should be 100 times better than what they had done it in the game?
lol way off
I still play fifa 10 on PS3 waiting for fifa 12 to come out in september. i love the virtual pro mode, but i never play my virtual pro with barca, since they never seem to play the barca way lol. teams in the eredivisie are just retarted, just play your virtual pro with PSV and you'll know what I mean. I found inter to be enjoyable, if you replace diego milito.
Actually, I've been thinking the same too lately! Me and some friends were playing some tournaments on FIFA 11 and whenever Messi gets in a run to a point blank postiion, he always get caught up by the defenders! As if Messi was as slow as John Terry? :s Also the dribbling with Messi is not as in the real life.
Hope FIFA 2012 thought about that this time!
Messi is better than Play Station!!!
It's really annoying seeing that EA SPORTS love the Primer League and there really good teams compared to teams from Spain, ea sport to also sponsors Primer League, then it is not surprising
Fifa 11 is a great game but yes Messi is not good enough in it. They need to change the acceleration of players more drastically. I think they have fixed it this season so Messi will be able to dribble better and defending isn't just pushing X the whole time. Also the player impact engine looks amazing!
espinosa and delouefe both should get their chances. I have a feeling that espinosa will be great some day.
OT.
Hopefully Sergio Canales goes to Valencia, I like that player, and Its not only good for the player and Valencia as a team, Its good for La Liga.. I hope Valencia can keep Mata too!
I don't think that anybody involved with football in Europe wants to lose the European Cup or the Champions League. That cup with it's big ears is something very special in football. No club wants to give up playing for it.
But it's also necessary that the clubs finally put the national federations, UEFA and FIFA in it's place. Without club football, the sport would be not nearly as popular as it is now. FIFA only generate money with the fake euphoria during their horrible World Cups. Yet they pull all the strings in football and can tell clubs what to do. This has to stop!
Just look at the the spanish federation did with it's players last summer. A long World Cup, they win it, and as a thanks they send them first to Mexico for a meaningless friendly right after their vacations and a few weeks later they send them to Argentina. This is madness and has to end.
This new european Superleague is in my opinion only a way to pressure UEFA and FIFA and increase the power of clubs. Because both now: without the clubs, it's over for them.
I think this could be really cool. I however suggest that they replace both domestic leagues and UCL. That way the Super league could have 24 or 26 teams, and the domestic cups would be more meaningful.
did any1 see the messi and friends game ? i think romario passes better than all the Argentinians combined
[youtube Wu4grQmZ_6I&feature=player_embedded http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wu4grQmZ_6I&feature=player_embedded youtube]
It's all about Money. douchbag presidents, including rosell.
As if all the big clubs need MORE money. it's just the stupid inflation in the football economy.
Instead they should think of how they won't accept ridiculous bids from clubs like Man city, Barca and Real Madrid. there should be a player-value governing body or something.
I hate this. football is all about money nowadays. this sucks.
Imagine you have a company and somebody else comes along 5 or 6 times a year and takes a number of your employees, while you still have to pay them and take the risk that they get hurt while working for the other guy. And even if they don't get hurt, you have to change your work schedule because these workers come back tired and need time off.
Imagine you have a car and somebody comes along 5 or 6 times a year and just takes it. He drives around in it for days and brings it back dirty, out of fuel and with scratches in the brand-new and expensive paint-job. Yet you still have to pay for the fuel and the insurance and even if he brings the car back in pieces, you have to pay good money for it to be put together again.
The money is one thing, but I believe this is only a way to apply pressure. The clubs want more power and not be under the thumb of the federations anymore. Good for them.
Not until Barca surpasses Madrid in ECL trophies.
Sounds good to me – more good matches, less rubbish. But if we're breaking away from FIFA, then who will Mourinho have to whine about? Por Que?!
I think you're underestimating what FIFA contributes to the footballing world. It is the single largest footballing association in the world. It appoints offices in nearly every able country in the world to have it's own leagues which are often 4 to 8 levels deep. Even in Hong Kong, where I live there is a 4th league.
It organizes football in almost every continent. the World Cup, European Cup etc. all organized by FIFA. Although there may be a few corrupt men working inside FIFA, (which is a given. there is no way you can have a corrupt-less work force) it's message and ideology still stands. It unites people through football and it aims to promote multiculturalism. It can at times be hypocritical, but it still goes on.
As for your idea that clubs should be the ones organizing football, that would never work at all. it would be a monopoly. the organizing club will be biased towards the other clubs. Where's the fun in that?
The leagues that FIFA organizes unite clubs from all over each continent. National Leagues like Serie A, La Liga, Bundesliga and EPL host top teams as well as mediocre teams. It would be a disaster if the mediocre teams aren't given the same opportunity. Where would the big clubs get their young potential players? Who will you support if you're from a province without it's own football club?
but most importantly (and as a response to your 'lesser clubs make their own lesser league' statement)… How in hell will kids want to play football as a profession if there are only a handful of teams who get to play against the best?
What fun is there for a kid if they get rejected from Villareal's academy if there are no other clubs playing in the same league with the same amount of chances? Where will they want to go if any other club doesn't get the opportunity to play against the best?
I have a friend who's gone to a trial in Sheffield United. It's the biggest thing of his life right now. where would he go if Sheffield United isn't given the opportunity to play in the Premier League where my friend could be facing against Man United, Chelsea, Man City, Arsenal, Liverpool and Spurs?
Football musn't be monopolized by clubs. it must be united by people who aim to give a fair chance to everyone.
UEFA is for European clubs (East Russia is considered part of Europe by FIFA) and if you read my rant above, you should understand why the Champions League, at least the structure, should never be taken down.
Don't forget. FIFA was created by football loving enthusiasts and it still is run by football loving enthusiasts.
With such a big amount of cash flow (think about all the advertising FIFA does. all the broadcasting rights to tens of thousands of channels from countries all over the world), it's not hard to find a few individuals in the system who get a little greedy.
what is the football season without the champion's league………….plus playing fo your country is suppposed to be about patriotism and giving back to the country and the fans alike
who was the #7 girl doing all the ball-juggling?
The amount money club want is not in the UCL. Uefa is taking care of tons of stuff and it is not its' first priority to make the game more and more commercial. Clubs should arrange their own Mega Super League if the want extra cash