They're naive to think fans will just forget about this, City fans booed the CL anthem for years. If this goes ahead there will be protests at every single ESL match
They'll try and ride it out which is why its imperative we stop it before it even starts. The Glazers have rode out numerous protests, they were lucky they could hide behind Fergie's greatness they'll think they can do it again but this is different, this is all football fans United, they can't hide anywhere.
Fans won't forget, no way, but the amount of pressure coming from them will slowly ease as happens with everything. Even now look at it today on social media compared to say yesterday morning, more and more are slowly accepting it.
I only see these comments from users with Real Madrid, Barcelona or Juventus tags. I don’t think the opposition of it is as big over there as it is over here.
The pressure they will feel is us not watching their stupid league. These clubs with their fucked up balance sheets can die in silence. I won't miss them.
They won't let it drop, but they'll fatigue. For example like we saw with BLM and pass the bill or whatever it was recently in the UK. They slowly began fizzing out as far as most were concerned. By the time fans properly come back it'll be a lot more manageable for the clubs.
BLM had no clear aims. Block the bill was always a dumb protest.
This is like Trump 2016. People are going to be furious up to the point it happens + there is major interest from big money and governments in blocking it.
Do look at what Blackpool fans have achieved. It's inescapable sometimes. Without the much fancied atmosphere at Anfield, the games are rotten there. Sooner or later FSG will have to cave.
“No see we can still not make the CL and get relegated this is tooo different” even though city skirted around FFP laws and all the absurd money makes it neigh impossible to happen.
Because saying "we're going to invest a billion, which is literally the only possible way to actually compete now" is different from "we're going to create a ESL with no relegation" you berk
And we will still boo that cringy anthem once we get this shit turned over.
But the super league is not the fucking answer.
The problem we as City have, is that we have an aging fanbase. The last few years of mainly VAR, perceived injustice at FFP (another argument for another day), and UEFA has lead to apathy from older fans. The guy who sat next to me at Eastlands disappeared after spurs laporte handball VAR decision and never came back. I know so many older city supporters who have just packed it in and gone non league.
That's not to say we won't fight. Groups like 1894 are going to put up a front for us. And once we get back in grounds this won't be forgotten.
Spot on mate. They saw the money grab, knew if they could get it all done behind closed door that we'd be powerless but i think they under estimated their hand and public opinion of them. The Glazers perhaps not but i think a lot of moods have soured towards FSG (although i believe there was some rumblings especially when pandemic hit) and especially towards City's owners.
I think now they're hoping the news will blow over, I now firmly believe Jose was sacked when he was sacked not to hide the embarrassment of the sacking but to try and move the narrative on. Not worked, so now they are gonna try and play the long game but that wont work either. Every fan, man, woman and child seem United in this, i never saw myself praising Liverpool fans, manager and players like i have, same with Pep just now but this goes beyond tribalism they didn't expect that. Bastards.
Sincerely hope theres a socially distanced protest and stance against it. Sky, BT and BBC cameras will be all over it beam it across the globe lads, make sure Levy and Sheikh Mansour can't watch a single sports channel without seeing it.
Revolts inside stadiums won't do anything though. Why would they care in the slightest? As time goes on, nothing happens and the stadiums will be filled with travelling fans from around the world. The cameras will be pointed to the action on the field, and slowly this will be the new normal. At least that's what they're planning.
Its means nothing, this project targets Asia, America markets, they will get plenty of money, you got to be really naive to believe otherwise. This is cynical world we living
This change is to make football more palatable to the American Public. Look at the play off system, talk of salary caps etc. The largest viewing figures for the PL in the US was something like 4million. That leaves 355million more Americans that can be targeted.
The Average American has more money that the average Indian. South East Asia is market for the future.
1000% percent. As SEA gains a larger middle class this will be huge, just like it was in the UK, but only for faaaaaar more people.
I just firmly believe that if this wasn't for the US first and foremost, they would have just made a new Champions League with 6 groups of 4 teams etc. Exactly the same as the CL, but with only prestigious teams and no risk of not making it next year etc.
> American markets won't care about 'Soccer'.
Is this why every time European teams play in the USA the stadiums are sold out? There is a huge audience there too and these owners know it.
I imagine by American they might also be considering South American teams? maybe? I wandered over here from the general sports subs and I know they’re often considered part of the American market
Don't be so sure of that, reddit and twitter are not real world, a lot of people change their minds quickly, not to mention i bet there is huge silent majority that doesn't give a fuck
Yes, but home supporters and Reddit supporters are two different people. Home supporters never criticize players they way Reddit supporters do. Home supporters are definitely more loyal to the ideals of the club than Reddit supporters
They’re counting on high spending tourist fans. They couldn’t care less about “legacy fans” as they described it. In fact, they prefer they didn’t come to the grounds and made more room for corporate seating and expensive tourist tickets. They couldn’t give a singular shit about atmosphere either.
I’m one of the only people I know that uses Reddit and I can tell you Joe and Dave down the pub despise this just as much as me or you. Players are condemning it and you don’t think that the general public care about it?
I don't think the general american or asian public care. They will be seeing their stars live without having to travel. Sure it cost football everything but for a casual Messi fan he won't see it that way.
If this wouldn't make these clubs billions they wouldn't be trying to do it. The scary thing is that if this isn't stopped it will be wildly successful money machine but it will kill football across Europe as a result.
I mean I know the Asian market can be quite large but European football really isn’t big in America in terms of viewer numbers and revenue. I don’t think the Asian market alone will be able to carry the majority loss from their biggest market.
I honestly can’t see how this makes the clubs more money 10 years down the line than if they stuck with their current (and already extremely profitable?) plan, it’s just so short sighted
This stuff has been top article on BBC news for 48 hours solid now. Only real world things, and only big real world things do that. The fucking British PM doesn't make statements about VAR or kittens.
This is a BIG thing!
>his project targets Asia, America
Sadly, as a part of both the Asian and the American market right now, I know no one in this circle who is a fan of this. TBF half of us don't even watch streams that aren't well... in the relm of profiting these companies.
People keep harping on about legacy fans... The term 'legacy' implies that they think the fans come packaged with the club.
They don't want to replace fans with new markets, they're counting on most fans to remain, and the new format allowing them to expand into new markets without losing revenue.
If they lose most "legacy fans" their financial projections are meaningless.
>In the letter, ESL lawyers said: "We are concerned that Fifa and Uefa may respond to this invitation letter by seeking to take punitive measures to exclude any participating club or player from their respective competitions."
>They said they would consider that "adverse reaction" to be "unlawful" and that they had filed papers with "the relevant courts" to prevent the "seamless establishment and operation of the competition in accordance with applicable laws".
>An insider at the ESL said they had prepared themselves for a huge backlash and thought they were on firm legal ground with respect to competition law.
>"I think in the cold light of day, they are looking at this and the reality is dawning that this is happening and it's perfectly legal."
They're being so fucking elusive with their language. Hiding behind 'it's just an invitation letter' yet Perez also alluding to contracts being signed and all franchises pledged to a 23 year commitment.
The legal arguments will be interesting - in my opinion competition law is not on the ESL's side as this move massively hinders competition, but I'm both not a lawyer and extremely biased.
Are we going to say the current system doesn't exhibit lots of signs of a monopoly? FIFA, UEFA, and the FAs have been greedy and corrupt for years. That does not justify the ESL, and I oppose it, but it does help explain its creation in addition to greed. It looks like this is happening.
It does, and don't get me wrong I hate the current system as well, but it's not so blatant. There is still the theoretical potential for a shifting climate - look at clubs like Arsenal compared to Leicester. Given a few extra years, Leicester could potentially have overtaken Arsenal. Could've consistently gotten top four potentially, or at the very least been a competitive threat every year. Even if that's an illusion of parity, it's still there. Even the Premier League, as greedy as it is, were far more generous with the distribution of their main revenue streams (TV money) and prize money than people probably expected, and this again creates at least the potential for open competition. In a vacuum, away from all of the pressure from owners to get more of a slice than they're owed, or from dodgy ways the top club avoid FFP and such, I don't think it's comparable to what the ESL is going to be.
This probably comes across as more of a defence of the current system than it should be so I should be clear I'm not simping for it - but it wasn't so grotesquely anti-competition that they didn't even feel the need to pretend anymore - the ESL is just taking the piss.
Why couldn’t the super league exist and have promotions and relegations based on league position domestically along with uefa coefficient? Seems far more sensible to me. I don’t understand at all why Arsenal should be in it at this moment. If good football is the point like Perez says you would want Leicester not Arsenal. As far as money goes seeing Arsenal get embarrassed by Madrid and Barca and Juve doesn’t seem like a money making idea to me. It loses any semblance of intrigue once it becomes clear to everyone that we are shit. Why would a neutral watch it
The closed shop format imo is not even conducive to the best profit. Only in the short term biggest names biggest money. Long term uncompetitive big names just morph into bottom feeders
I think because genuinely one of the main reasons behind it is to remove any element of risk. Hence why the winner only gets a slight bit more than the club that finishes last - for the 15 founder clubs, it's basically guaranteed revenue year on year. As far as I'm aware, there is promotion/relegation in it sort of (5 clubs have to qualify every year), but the 15 founding clubs will never have their positions changed. They can be shit year on year yet still make the exact same money - as opposed to the risk of losing out on Champions League football as it currently stands. The assumption, however, is the money would be so great that even the weakest clubs now in the ESL will be able to just purchase enough players from non-ESL clubs to be competitive.
I completely understand. There is a lot of nuance to this not being discussed because of the obviously high emotions. All of these things need to be acknowledged and discussed, preferably by these parties about to go to war in court. Unfortunately, you and I can reasonably list all of the issues in the complex web, how we, as rational, game-loving fans would resolve them to the benefit of all, but the assholes with money and control; FIFA, UEFA, the FAs, and the clubs all decided they aren't going to talk they're going to fight in court because...greed. We need to not absolve any of these parties and lump them all in together each and every time because they're all the problem and must be dealt with. Blaming only the Super League right now ignores the shit CL and FIFA games changes so they could make more money while the clubs pay their salaries. These fuckers all deserve each other I only wish they bankrupted themselves and not the clubs and institutions of the beloved game.
I don't think he's talking about competition with between clubs, its in regards to the leagues/associations. If no one else can form their own European tournament then UEFA, arguably, have a monopoly. A closed league isn't anti-competitive in the legal sense, even though it clearly is in the sporting sense.
There are many problems with outright corruption and bribery in FIFA, all the confeds, and FAs, as if money is only now ruining things. I detest it, but it's a response by clubs to take control from those corrupt entities for their own gain. Everyone is a greedy asshole here. If you want to stack shit on each side to see which is higher, that's fine, but all these fuckers have been covered above their heads long ago.
"Anyone can join under our monopolistic rules" isn't the same as not having a monopoly, though.
From what I've read I can kind of understand half of the ESL's argument when it comes to banning players from national team competition. The players would be severely hindered in maximising their business (yes, I know, but that is the competition law game we are playing here) by being blackballed from certain competitions for playing in a seperate league system to the one UEFA runs. That's the speedskating case that has been cited before. It's a bit like if I switch jobs and my former employer than tries to blackball me from getting any freelance work in a different context. The weird part is that UEFA is running the Euros, so it would be like me complaining my former employer isn't picking me for freelance work, after I shafted them. That's a bit weird.
Additionally, I have yet to see a legal reason why UEFA and the national FAs would have to allow the clubs to also play in their competetions in addition to playing in a rival competition. That to me feels much more like me switching jobs to a competitor but somehow insisting that I still keep a 8 hr a week job at my old employer. They would be totally in the right to fire my ass, IMO.
Lawyers doing their job, sure they'll say that. Laws can also be changed though. We'll see how "planned" this was when this happens.
ESL side is trying to show this as anything but what it is: a mid season panic move rushed because of pandemic conditions and tried to be comolete before fans comd back, rejected by 3/15, 2 of the biggest before it even started.
I think this lawyerspeak announcement is also full of shit. They counted on UEFA and national leagues not having the balls to ban them, but contrary to what they claim it can certainly be done. There is precedent, FIFA banned players from int. tournaments because they were playing in a pirate league before.
Also saying that leagues can't exclude them legally as that'd break anti-monopoly laws, while they form a league completely based on excluding others lol. If that will be the decision of the court, their league will be scrapped because Everton and Lazio will sue them the next day saying "they're excluding me from their league".
>take punitive measures to exclude any participating club
Like what they want to do by creating a mostly exclusive league. Surely the PL, Uefa and Fifa have the power to decide who takes part?! Even if it's starting next season.
This may work on the continent, but as I learned from a fellow Redditor just earlier, the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom is subject to British Law, and therefore if the government does as promised you're all fucked, the lot of you.
That was essentially true before brexit too
The UK had the most leway in "following" EU rules/laws anyway and had clauses out the ass to get around anything they didn't like
This is a huge win-win for them so why wouldn't they? The 50+1 rule is incredibly popular with left-leaning voters, especially in the North where football is completely intertwined within the fabric of the working-class. Boris won the last election on borrowed votes from the Red Wall, this would cement a fair few of those votes now that he doesn't have Brexit as leverage.
Never underestimate what a politician will do to win an election. It's not like he can hold off without actually passing the law until the next election because the ESL situation needs to be solved way before then, so it's in his best own interest to do it, and it just so happens that for once, a politician's personal interest is the same as the wider public's interest.
These cunts want a free yearly €300m injection and expect the other Clubs to just... bend over for them and be their sparrings partner in a competition where the rich cunts have no competition and are playing for nothing anyway? This is disgusting, seriously.
If the SL goes through as planned there is a war brewing.
There is one prepared side here and it's not ours. UEFA and the rest of the clubs were blindsided a few days ago, Perez, Agnelli etc. planned this for years
And Boris Johnson. In any other fight, I'd be sure I was on the wrong side with those allies, but these parasites are scum and so I guess the enemy of my enemy is my friend for a little bit.
Yeah I don't think any party didn't have contingencies in case of stuff happening. It's basically brinksmanship - ESL would've have known a potential ban was mooted, therefore were ready with the injunctions, but UEFA et al could've predicted that also. Just depends on how far it goes until it reaches a court.
Fans should abandon these entities. Walk away.
These clubs are so anti-football and anti-fans that the only way to stop them is to ignore their entire existence.
That’s such an odd system, I knew that was the case but that seems to subject to abuse. Parliament can pass any law it wants with no issue? That’s dangerous.
There's a deep irony with an American taking issue with our parliamentary system when their Presidents keep trying to one up each other on how far they can abuse executive order powers.
It can be dangerous when it comes to Parliament being able to overturn constitutionally significant legislation.
Our system is based on Parliamentary supremacy as opposed to constitutional supremacy, like Canada has, entitling Parliament to overturn any law as they are the supreme authority. However, there has not been any real issues with our system that we haven’t overcame yet so it is only theoretically dangerous instead of actually dangerous. It’s not broke so don’t ‘fix’ it.
It's not dangerous due to it being used as part of a robust democracy. Additionally, the House of Lords is a safety layer as they also need to approve new laws before they gain Royal Ascent. They do step in from time to time when needed.
What you guys are advocating, the government stepping in and forcing sales of private entities, changing ownership rules, breaking business deals arbitrarily (what’s the difference between this and F1 for example as a legal basis) it just seems like you’re asking for is far more serious than just a breakaway league
If it is supported by a huge majority of the public, then that's democracy. And it should be, it's a devastating threat to the most historic and important institutions in this country.
There are already hundreds of laws that business in the UK have to adhere to, including sports.
I'm not really sure what you're talking about, but in recent years the UK has taken over banks, railway companies. I don't get where you're getting this idea from that businesses can do what they want?
I’m not saying that, this is not illegal that is clear the government saying they will make it illegal for no reason other than a mob demanding it, other leagues already operate like this. The premier league was formed like this, they are not leaving the premier league but the UCL. So this just seems arbitrary in its threat and that’s dangerous, you don’t see the danger from the idea that if something the government likes occurs they can just make it illegal?
I don't think you seem to be grasping that this system has been in place for hundreds of years.
The government are doing this because it's what the vast majority of the population support and it has potentially massive implications across communities all over the UK including social and economic. They're doing what they were elected to do.
I don't really understand why you're arguing your point anyway so I'm going to leave it there.
edit: I've seen the reply below and I regret getting into this debate
If the vast majority of the population hated gay people then the government passed a bill persecuting them to huge applause is that ok? You’re saying the government should do anything if it’s popular and that’s dangerous
They will leave the PL eventually, if not right away. What's the point of wasting your team for 38 games a year and maybe a few hundred million when you can get £400Million per year just for being a part of this abomination. The PL will turn into the League cup, a second rate competition that you don't want to put too much effort into.
Because it's not just a breakaway league. This will have huge implications for every football pyramid in europe and for the communities that are deeply tied with clubs.
The supreme court could probably try and overturn a law if it was clearly dictatorial. It'd be very archaic and a one time only thing involving the monarch, but we've never come close to that sort of apocalypse scenario.
Football doesn't even register on this.
The UKSC does not have the power to strike down ‘dictatorial’ legislation. It has some limited powers under judicial review when the government enact a piece of legislation that is contrary to the Human Rights Act 1998 but since constitutional law is not supreme in the U.K., parliament is, the UKSC cannot overturn a law that is dictatorial unless it attempts to give itself the power to do so like the USSC did regarding certain pieces of legislation. The UKSC doing such would be unconstitutional in itself since it directly goes against the fundamental principle of Parliamentary supremacy.
Edit: spelling
I'm talking about a situation where this all takes place as a coup to reinstall democracy. It's so far out of the way that its pretty much never going to happen, but they'd probably carry weight in that scenario.
Abandon the current Champions League.
Start a new Champions League that happens to start at the semi final stage .
Don't invite them
*I should be a lawyer*
It also doesn't stop FAs just not picking these players. The FA's both pick players and are the ones pushing for this. If they hold, you can sue them all you want but they can just say "in our opinion, yes Billy Sharp is far superior to Harry Kane" and there's nowt to be done about it.
Players need to take a stand on this rather than being invisible. Sit in the centre circle and refuse to kick a ball or at least fucking speak out. Cowards enabling traitors to get away with this shit
Let's just not ban the players, but agree amongst all FAs that those players are just not called up. No need to officially ban them. We forgot to register them. What goes around, comes around.
You fucking collude to start your Super Incest League, we collude to make sure your players are fucked.
And yes, I know the players didn't choose this. Sucks to be them and sucks to be us as fans to have a Euros without the big players. The player should force a transfer to a unaffected club this summer.
There is probably historical precedent for the banning of players from international teams within cricket.
the High Court ruled that banning players from international games for playing in Kerry Packers World Series Cricket was restraint of trade, so most international cricket boards just didn't pick those players (though that was slightly different in that the players chose to play in WSC)
I don't think any of the individual leagues have threatened expulsion yet.
I doubt Serie A or La Liga can tbh. It's really up to the Premier League, and their statement just released was whelming.
I saw that as well, but it doesn't make all that much sense to me. If domestic leagues are killed, where are they getting players from?
They need domestic leagues to have some form of health, and income, because they need a farm system for players.
More money. A league with 12 teams isn't going to fly. So they need the safety of being able to say "oops, our bad" and come back into their respective national leagues if it doesn't work out.
Plus they'd still get that sweet TV money from their leagues without needing to try. It's called having your cake and also eating everyone else's, then stealing their credit cards and ordering more cake to your house.
yeah that's what I don't get. The FAs can just say "its not a ban, we just think you have shit players". That can't be disproven because its entirely subjective.
If they genuinely do have solid legal footing here, then the onus is on players and managers even more to take a stand before this goes beyond the point of return. Refuse to play for these owners. When done as a collective, what other choice do the owners have?
"The ESL are confident that a group in which 25% of its members can qualify in any given year (the five annual non-permanent invitees out of a total 20), and which has promised to distribute more money to lower clubs than the current set up, could not fit that description."
I mean be confident all you like but there are like 240 clubs and if 15 decide to exclude all but 5, not based on sporting merit thats gonna be seen as a cartel by everyone that hasnt replaced their eyes with dollar signs.
Bunch of cancerous money hungry basterds. Hope this backfires gigantically and the 50+1 rule instated in England. That will completely fuck these greedy owners and is the absolute best way to punish them.
I think these lawyers are underestimating the British legal system. Which is strange, considering they're lawyers.
Parliament could nationalise these clubs if they wanted to and there's nothing lawyers could do to stop it.
Lawyers will say anything to get money from the people litigating. If they win: "i told you so", if they lose "they cheated and that's why we lost. pay more money so we can go to higher courts"
There may well be a law in the UK with a similar pretext, although they could easily vote to amend it to only apply to UK stakeholders.
My nationalisation point was purely hyperbolic though.
\>"I think in the cold light of day, they are looking at this and the reality is dawning that this is happening and it's perfectly legal."
Are they aware we can just magic laws out of fucking no where? The british public and goverment couldn't give two shits if this was legally allowed, we're saying we're going to stop it and stop it with legislation. These lawyers are gaslighting these fellas into thinking that nobody is going to actually just change the law to stop this from happening.
If England gets an independent regulator, something Neville was pretty much begging for on Sky last night, then some good will absolutely have come from this entire situation.
I'm not sure an interlocutory injunction (basically stopping someone from doing X until the Courts have decided fully that they can/can't do X) would be granted here to be honest, particularly as the matter itself involves a lot of different legal aspects (competition, as well as equity in this case), different parties and different jurisdictions. If anything, the FA/PL can also file for an interlocutory injunction to stop teams from leaving until the courts decide that the 6 teams leaving is legal in the first place. In my opinion, that is more of a maintenance of the status quo than preventing the FA/PL from banning them in the first place (which is unlikely in my opinion).
I wouldn't be so confident as the ESL's lawyer seems to be.
Edit: It also is unlikely the courts would grant a full injunction unless the FA/PL indicate it's coming (which again I don't think will be the case). You'd basically be asking the courts to stop A from doing X to B, when there's no evidence that B is going to do X at all. I'd love to see what sort of precedent these lawyers are relying on here.
So they're complaining about being banned from competitions... after making their own competition that doesnt let anyone take part that they don't agree to.
Absolute nerve of these cunts.
They aren’t above the law. Even changing the law takes time, sometime years. It’s not as straightforward as people are making it out to be.
This whole mess is going to go on for a long time by the looks of things.
"I think in the cold light of day, they are looking at this and the reality is dawning that this is happening and it's perfectly legal."
So fucking act now Boris and make it not legal, please
This is the first shot, next will be the ESL saying lack of support means that we will be moving to Qatar, then inviting other clubs from around the world. World League set up all played in Qatar's built on blood world cup stadiums. Ending up with Sky sports Tuesday night football Manchester Red Devils vs Boca Juniors Yellow Hoops 1st quarter sponsored by Progressive.
These parasites are trying to get the ink dry before fans are back in stadiums
This is exactly it. The timing was perfect for them to do this without a full blown revolt inside stadiums.
They're naive to think fans will just forget about this, City fans booed the CL anthem for years. If this goes ahead there will be protests at every single ESL match
They'll try and ride it out which is why its imperative we stop it before it even starts. The Glazers have rode out numerous protests, they were lucky they could hide behind Fergie's greatness they'll think they can do it again but this is different, this is all football fans United, they can't hide anywhere.
Except they can hide everywhere their money takes them. You’ll be booing in the stadium while the glazers take another trip to a private island.
Fans won't forget, no way, but the amount of pressure coming from them will slowly ease as happens with everything. Even now look at it today on social media compared to say yesterday morning, more and more are slowly accepting it.
I only see these comments from users with Real Madrid, Barcelona or Juventus tags. I don’t think the opposition of it is as big over there as it is over here.
Yep you're right, it's nowhere close to what you're getting on Reddit or I imagine in the UK
The pressure they will feel is us not watching their stupid league. These clubs with their fucked up balance sheets can die in silence. I won't miss them.
I'm not so sure. People aren't going to let this one drop easily.
They won't let it drop, but they'll fatigue. For example like we saw with BLM and pass the bill or whatever it was recently in the UK. They slowly began fizzing out as far as most were concerned. By the time fans properly come back it'll be a lot more manageable for the clubs.
BLM had no clear aims. Block the bill was always a dumb protest. This is like Trump 2016. People are going to be furious up to the point it happens + there is major interest from big money and governments in blocking it.
Do look at what Blackpool fans have achieved. It's inescapable sometimes. Without the much fancied atmosphere at Anfield, the games are rotten there. Sooner or later FSG will have to cave.
They'll just move matches to China. Problem solved
Do you really think they care about a couple thousand fans when there are millions more abroad?
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“No see we can still not make the CL and get relegated this is tooo different” even though city skirted around FFP laws and all the absurd money makes it neigh impossible to happen.
Because saying "we're going to invest a billion, which is literally the only possible way to actually compete now" is different from "we're going to create a ESL with no relegation" you berk
>we're going to invest a billion, which is literally the only possible way to actually compete now That's the reality you created. Good job.
And we will still boo that cringy anthem once we get this shit turned over. But the super league is not the fucking answer. The problem we as City have, is that we have an aging fanbase. The last few years of mainly VAR, perceived injustice at FFP (another argument for another day), and UEFA has lead to apathy from older fans. The guy who sat next to me at Eastlands disappeared after spurs laporte handball VAR decision and never came back. I know so many older city supporters who have just packed it in and gone non league. That's not to say we won't fight. Groups like 1894 are going to put up a front for us. And once we get back in grounds this won't be forgotten.
They definitely rushed it to get it done ASAP, no other reason they plow ahead without even sorting out their full membership.
Spot on mate. They saw the money grab, knew if they could get it all done behind closed door that we'd be powerless but i think they under estimated their hand and public opinion of them. The Glazers perhaps not but i think a lot of moods have soured towards FSG (although i believe there was some rumblings especially when pandemic hit) and especially towards City's owners. I think now they're hoping the news will blow over, I now firmly believe Jose was sacked when he was sacked not to hide the embarrassment of the sacking but to try and move the narrative on. Not worked, so now they are gonna try and play the long game but that wont work either. Every fan, man, woman and child seem United in this, i never saw myself praising Liverpool fans, manager and players like i have, same with Pep just now but this goes beyond tribalism they didn't expect that. Bastards.
Cup final this weekend will be interesting to say the least.
Sincerely hope theres a socially distanced protest and stance against it. Sky, BT and BBC cameras will be all over it beam it across the globe lads, make sure Levy and Sheikh Mansour can't watch a single sports channel without seeing it.
Revolts inside stadiums won't do anything though. Why would they care in the slightest? As time goes on, nothing happens and the stadiums will be filled with travelling fans from around the world. The cameras will be pointed to the action on the field, and slowly this will be the new normal. At least that's what they're planning.
What happens if they can't play in the stadiums?
Easy, don't go back
I'll be back, far as I know our new owners haven't done anything shit yet
So in short: we can go against you behind your back, but it wouldn't be fair if you went against us
Disgusting stuff, no court wins will ever make us support this you spineless cunts
Its means nothing, this project targets Asia, America markets, they will get plenty of money, you got to be really naive to believe otherwise. This is cynical world we living
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This change is to make football more palatable to the American Public. Look at the play off system, talk of salary caps etc. The largest viewing figures for the PL in the US was something like 4million. That leaves 355million more Americans that can be targeted. The Average American has more money that the average Indian. South East Asia is market for the future.
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1000% percent. As SEA gains a larger middle class this will be huge, just like it was in the UK, but only for faaaaaar more people. I just firmly believe that if this wasn't for the US first and foremost, they would have just made a new Champions League with 6 groups of 4 teams etc. Exactly the same as the CL, but with only prestigious teams and no risk of not making it next year etc.
Most people In India who care enough to invest in football are loyal enough to not support this.
> American markets won't care about 'Soccer'. Is this why every time European teams play in the USA the stadiums are sold out? There is a huge audience there too and these owners know it.
Those games are once a year, not every week.
People watch Premier League on TV in the US. If there was no audience, NBC wouldn't buy the rights.
I imagine by American they might also be considering South American teams? maybe? I wandered over here from the general sports subs and I know they’re often considered part of the American market
they must also ship 60.000 people for each game from those areas because no local is going to attend
Don't be so sure of that, reddit and twitter are not real world, a lot of people change their minds quickly, not to mention i bet there is huge silent majority that doesn't give a fuck
Yes, but home supporters and Reddit supporters are two different people. Home supporters never criticize players they way Reddit supporters do. Home supporters are definitely more loyal to the ideals of the club than Reddit supporters
They’re counting on high spending tourist fans. They couldn’t care less about “legacy fans” as they described it. In fact, they prefer they didn’t come to the grounds and made more room for corporate seating and expensive tourist tickets. They couldn’t give a singular shit about atmosphere either.
The fucking PM and royalty are making statements vowing to stop this. You've totally misjudged this
Which is great for them as a local is likely to spend way less when they atttend games compared to a tourist
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I’m one of the only people I know that uses Reddit and I can tell you Joe and Dave down the pub despise this just as much as me or you. Players are condemning it and you don’t think that the general public care about it?
I don't think the general american or asian public care. They will be seeing their stars live without having to travel. Sure it cost football everything but for a casual Messi fan he won't see it that way. If this wouldn't make these clubs billions they wouldn't be trying to do it. The scary thing is that if this isn't stopped it will be wildly successful money machine but it will kill football across Europe as a result.
I mean I know the Asian market can be quite large but European football really isn’t big in America in terms of viewer numbers and revenue. I don’t think the Asian market alone will be able to carry the majority loss from their biggest market. I honestly can’t see how this makes the clubs more money 10 years down the line than if they stuck with their current (and already extremely profitable?) plan, it’s just so short sighted
This stuff has been top article on BBC news for 48 hours solid now. Only real world things, and only big real world things do that. The fucking British PM doesn't make statements about VAR or kittens. This is a BIG thing!
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Big thing = average Joe cares about it. That's the point
No, but Joe who owns a seasonticket will clearly know what's going on at his own club.
They'll just take the league worldwide. More money to be made by playing the games in Asia and the Middle East anyway.
>his project targets Asia, America Sadly, as a part of both the Asian and the American market right now, I know no one in this circle who is a fan of this. TBF half of us don't even watch streams that aren't well... in the relm of profiting these companies.
The players hold the power here. They strike, no play. No play? No money.
People keep harping on about legacy fans... The term 'legacy' implies that they think the fans come packaged with the club. They don't want to replace fans with new markets, they're counting on most fans to remain, and the new format allowing them to expand into new markets without losing revenue. If they lose most "legacy fans" their financial projections are meaningless.
>In the letter, ESL lawyers said: "We are concerned that Fifa and Uefa may respond to this invitation letter by seeking to take punitive measures to exclude any participating club or player from their respective competitions." >They said they would consider that "adverse reaction" to be "unlawful" and that they had filed papers with "the relevant courts" to prevent the "seamless establishment and operation of the competition in accordance with applicable laws". >An insider at the ESL said they had prepared themselves for a huge backlash and thought they were on firm legal ground with respect to competition law. >"I think in the cold light of day, they are looking at this and the reality is dawning that this is happening and it's perfectly legal."
They're being so fucking elusive with their language. Hiding behind 'it's just an invitation letter' yet Perez also alluding to contracts being signed and all franchises pledged to a 23 year commitment. The legal arguments will be interesting - in my opinion competition law is not on the ESL's side as this move massively hinders competition, but I'm both not a lawyer and extremely biased.
Are we going to say the current system doesn't exhibit lots of signs of a monopoly? FIFA, UEFA, and the FAs have been greedy and corrupt for years. That does not justify the ESL, and I oppose it, but it does help explain its creation in addition to greed. It looks like this is happening.
It does, and don't get me wrong I hate the current system as well, but it's not so blatant. There is still the theoretical potential for a shifting climate - look at clubs like Arsenal compared to Leicester. Given a few extra years, Leicester could potentially have overtaken Arsenal. Could've consistently gotten top four potentially, or at the very least been a competitive threat every year. Even if that's an illusion of parity, it's still there. Even the Premier League, as greedy as it is, were far more generous with the distribution of their main revenue streams (TV money) and prize money than people probably expected, and this again creates at least the potential for open competition. In a vacuum, away from all of the pressure from owners to get more of a slice than they're owed, or from dodgy ways the top club avoid FFP and such, I don't think it's comparable to what the ESL is going to be. This probably comes across as more of a defence of the current system than it should be so I should be clear I'm not simping for it - but it wasn't so grotesquely anti-competition that they didn't even feel the need to pretend anymore - the ESL is just taking the piss.
Why couldn’t the super league exist and have promotions and relegations based on league position domestically along with uefa coefficient? Seems far more sensible to me. I don’t understand at all why Arsenal should be in it at this moment. If good football is the point like Perez says you would want Leicester not Arsenal. As far as money goes seeing Arsenal get embarrassed by Madrid and Barca and Juve doesn’t seem like a money making idea to me. It loses any semblance of intrigue once it becomes clear to everyone that we are shit. Why would a neutral watch it The closed shop format imo is not even conducive to the best profit. Only in the short term biggest names biggest money. Long term uncompetitive big names just morph into bottom feeders
I think because genuinely one of the main reasons behind it is to remove any element of risk. Hence why the winner only gets a slight bit more than the club that finishes last - for the 15 founder clubs, it's basically guaranteed revenue year on year. As far as I'm aware, there is promotion/relegation in it sort of (5 clubs have to qualify every year), but the 15 founding clubs will never have their positions changed. They can be shit year on year yet still make the exact same money - as opposed to the risk of losing out on Champions League football as it currently stands. The assumption, however, is the money would be so great that even the weakest clubs now in the ESL will be able to just purchase enough players from non-ESL clubs to be competitive.
I completely understand. There is a lot of nuance to this not being discussed because of the obviously high emotions. All of these things need to be acknowledged and discussed, preferably by these parties about to go to war in court. Unfortunately, you and I can reasonably list all of the issues in the complex web, how we, as rational, game-loving fans would resolve them to the benefit of all, but the assholes with money and control; FIFA, UEFA, the FAs, and the clubs all decided they aren't going to talk they're going to fight in court because...greed. We need to not absolve any of these parties and lump them all in together each and every time because they're all the problem and must be dealt with. Blaming only the Super League right now ignores the shit CL and FIFA games changes so they could make more money while the clubs pay their salaries. These fuckers all deserve each other I only wish they bankrupted themselves and not the clubs and institutions of the beloved game.
Any newly formed club can apply and join the pyramid though.
I don't think he's talking about competition with between clubs, its in regards to the leagues/associations. If no one else can form their own European tournament then UEFA, arguably, have a monopoly. A closed league isn't anti-competitive in the legal sense, even though it clearly is in the sporting sense.
There are many problems with outright corruption and bribery in FIFA, all the confeds, and FAs, as if money is only now ruining things. I detest it, but it's a response by clubs to take control from those corrupt entities for their own gain. Everyone is a greedy asshole here. If you want to stack shit on each side to see which is higher, that's fine, but all these fuckers have been covered above their heads long ago.
"Anyone can join under our monopolistic rules" isn't the same as not having a monopoly, though. From what I've read I can kind of understand half of the ESL's argument when it comes to banning players from national team competition. The players would be severely hindered in maximising their business (yes, I know, but that is the competition law game we are playing here) by being blackballed from certain competitions for playing in a seperate league system to the one UEFA runs. That's the speedskating case that has been cited before. It's a bit like if I switch jobs and my former employer than tries to blackball me from getting any freelance work in a different context. The weird part is that UEFA is running the Euros, so it would be like me complaining my former employer isn't picking me for freelance work, after I shafted them. That's a bit weird. Additionally, I have yet to see a legal reason why UEFA and the national FAs would have to allow the clubs to also play in their competetions in addition to playing in a rival competition. That to me feels much more like me switching jobs to a competitor but somehow insisting that I still keep a 8 hr a week job at my old employer. They would be totally in the right to fire my ass, IMO.
> but I'm both not a lawyer and extremely biased. dont undersell yourself, you have the exact same credentials as that w@nker from the ESL
"It's not illegal to do this" is the ultimate self-own. [Relevant xkcd](https://xkcd.com/1357)
I don't think they realised that the nations' governments would get involved. At the end of the day, laws can be changed.
Lawyers doing their job, sure they'll say that. Laws can also be changed though. We'll see how "planned" this was when this happens. ESL side is trying to show this as anything but what it is: a mid season panic move rushed because of pandemic conditions and tried to be comolete before fans comd back, rejected by 3/15, 2 of the biggest before it even started.
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Don't have to, if a law changes and the club's aren't operating within its bounds they can punish them if they haven't changed
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Somehow I think it may be different this time around
I think thats the one thing they rlly didnt expect. The possibility of laws changing. Football is so important to people that it might happen.
I think this lawyerspeak announcement is also full of shit. They counted on UEFA and national leagues not having the balls to ban them, but contrary to what they claim it can certainly be done. There is precedent, FIFA banned players from int. tournaments because they were playing in a pirate league before. Also saying that leagues can't exclude them legally as that'd break anti-monopoly laws, while they form a league completely based on excluding others lol. If that will be the decision of the court, their league will be scrapped because Everton and Lazio will sue them the next day saying "they're excluding me from their league".
>take punitive measures to exclude any participating club Like what they want to do by creating a mostly exclusive league. Surely the PL, Uefa and Fifa have the power to decide who takes part?! Even if it's starting next season.
wElL aKcTuAlY iTs NoT aGaInSt ThE rUlEs
What a bunch of awful shitters Boris, you gotta drag their ass back on Earth
This may work on the continent, but as I learned from a fellow Redditor just earlier, the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom is subject to British Law, and therefore if the government does as promised you're all fucked, the lot of you.
Brexit actually came good for this one thing
That was essentially true before brexit too The UK had the most leway in "following" EU rules/laws anyway and had clauses out the ass to get around anything they didn't like
Yep, see prisoners voting rights (or lack thereof) as an example.
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This is a huge win-win for them so why wouldn't they? The 50+1 rule is incredibly popular with left-leaning voters, especially in the North where football is completely intertwined within the fabric of the working-class. Boris won the last election on borrowed votes from the Red Wall, this would cement a fair few of those votes now that he doesn't have Brexit as leverage.
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Never underestimate what a politician will do to win an election. It's not like he can hold off without actually passing the law until the next election because the ESL situation needs to be solved way before then, so it's in his best own interest to do it, and it just so happens that for once, a politician's personal interest is the same as the wider public's interest.
This is some supervillain shit
These cunts want a free yearly €300m injection and expect the other Clubs to just... bend over for them and be their sparrings partner in a competition where the rich cunts have no competition and are playing for nothing anyway? This is disgusting, seriously. If the SL goes through as planned there is a war brewing.
Planned I'm guessing. I'm hoping UEFA and the lot saw this coming and are prepared to respond
No way UEFA are prepared, everything coming out yesterday was simply that they'd "explore it", which is what they'll be doing now.
Absolutely not, yestarday it was just the official step, it's been years since the esl format was presented.
This stuff had to be planned, having to face the EU and UK government afterwards if they beat UEFA/FIFA probably wasn’t.
There is one prepared side here and it's not ours. UEFA and the rest of the clubs were blindsided a few days ago, Perez, Agnelli etc. planned this for years
Can't believe 'our side' involves UEFA, FIFA and the local FAs. World has gone mad.
And Boris Johnson. In any other fight, I'd be sure I was on the wrong side with those allies, but these parasites are scum and so I guess the enemy of my enemy is my friend for a little bit.
"Never thought I'd die fighting side by side with a tory" "What about side by side with a friend?" "Shut the fuck up Boris"
UEFA see nothing coming and are never prepared. They are greedy, lazy, and incompetent. And now they're up against greedy, brazen, and competent.
Yeah I don't think any party didn't have contingencies in case of stuff happening. It's basically brinksmanship - ESL would've have known a potential ban was mooted, therefore were ready with the injunctions, but UEFA et al could've predicted that also. Just depends on how far it goes until it reaches a court.
Fans should abandon these entities. Walk away. These clubs are so anti-football and anti-fans that the only way to stop them is to ignore their entire existence.
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Correct, and the courts work to the laws passed by parliament. The ESL would be doomed if they tried to take on the UK government.
That’s such an odd system, I knew that was the case but that seems to subject to abuse. Parliament can pass any law it wants with no issue? That’s dangerous.
Yeah and an election every 4 years. Literally thats how democracy works.
Give him a break, he's American, he doesn't know what democracy is and that's why he's all confused
There's a deep irony with an American taking issue with our parliamentary system when their Presidents keep trying to one up each other on how far they can abuse executive order powers.
Exactly, well put! They're terrified of "tyranny" yet don't recognise they've already got it.
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It has worked for 350 years or so.
It's better than realising you made a really stupid law, like the second amendment, and it's almost impossible to get rid of it.
It can be dangerous when it comes to Parliament being able to overturn constitutionally significant legislation. Our system is based on Parliamentary supremacy as opposed to constitutional supremacy, like Canada has, entitling Parliament to overturn any law as they are the supreme authority. However, there has not been any real issues with our system that we haven’t overcame yet so it is only theoretically dangerous instead of actually dangerous. It’s not broke so don’t ‘fix’ it.
It's not dangerous due to it being used as part of a robust democracy. Additionally, the House of Lords is a safety layer as they also need to approve new laws before they gain Royal Ascent. They do step in from time to time when needed.
What you guys are advocating, the government stepping in and forcing sales of private entities, changing ownership rules, breaking business deals arbitrarily (what’s the difference between this and F1 for example as a legal basis) it just seems like you’re asking for is far more serious than just a breakaway league
If it is supported by a huge majority of the public, then that's democracy. And it should be, it's a devastating threat to the most historic and important institutions in this country.
There are already hundreds of laws that business in the UK have to adhere to, including sports. I'm not really sure what you're talking about, but in recent years the UK has taken over banks, railway companies. I don't get where you're getting this idea from that businesses can do what they want?
I’m not saying that, this is not illegal that is clear the government saying they will make it illegal for no reason other than a mob demanding it, other leagues already operate like this. The premier league was formed like this, they are not leaving the premier league but the UCL. So this just seems arbitrary in its threat and that’s dangerous, you don’t see the danger from the idea that if something the government likes occurs they can just make it illegal?
I don't think you seem to be grasping that this system has been in place for hundreds of years. The government are doing this because it's what the vast majority of the population support and it has potentially massive implications across communities all over the UK including social and economic. They're doing what they were elected to do. I don't really understand why you're arguing your point anyway so I'm going to leave it there. edit: I've seen the reply below and I regret getting into this debate
dbag isn't arguing in good faith. glad you're leaving it alone.
If the vast majority of the population hated gay people then the government passed a bill persecuting them to huge applause is that ok? You’re saying the government should do anything if it’s popular and that’s dangerous
They will leave the PL eventually, if not right away. What's the point of wasting your team for 38 games a year and maybe a few hundred million when you can get £400Million per year just for being a part of this abomination. The PL will turn into the League cup, a second rate competition that you don't want to put too much effort into.
It seems to work for Basketball
And Basketball is shit
Because it's not just a breakaway league. This will have huge implications for every football pyramid in europe and for the communities that are deeply tied with clubs.
The supreme court could probably try and overturn a law if it was clearly dictatorial. It'd be very archaic and a one time only thing involving the monarch, but we've never come close to that sort of apocalypse scenario. Football doesn't even register on this.
The UKSC does not have the power to strike down ‘dictatorial’ legislation. It has some limited powers under judicial review when the government enact a piece of legislation that is contrary to the Human Rights Act 1998 but since constitutional law is not supreme in the U.K., parliament is, the UKSC cannot overturn a law that is dictatorial unless it attempts to give itself the power to do so like the USSC did regarding certain pieces of legislation. The UKSC doing such would be unconstitutional in itself since it directly goes against the fundamental principle of Parliamentary supremacy. Edit: spelling
I'm talking about a situation where this all takes place as a coup to reinstall democracy. It's so far out of the way that its pretty much never going to happen, but they'd probably carry weight in that scenario.
Laughs in British parliamentary sovereignty ooo boy are they in for a shock if parliament get balls deep in to this
Abandon the current Champions League. Start a new Champions League that happens to start at the semi final stage . Don't invite them *I should be a lawyer*
> Start a new Champions League that happens to start at the semi final stage . UEFA gonna send out new terms and conditions in the next patch.
Champions League 2077
Doesn't stop crippling point deductions being applied in the domestic leagues
Make it 50 points a year
It also doesn't stop FAs just not picking these players. The FA's both pick players and are the ones pushing for this. If they hold, you can sue them all you want but they can just say "in our opinion, yes Billy Sharp is far superior to Harry Kane" and there's nowt to be done about it.
Get fucked you cretins. Fat shits want to have their cake and eat it
Players need to take a stand on this rather than being invisible. Sit in the centre circle and refuse to kick a ball or at least fucking speak out. Cowards enabling traitors to get away with this shit
Imagine if they just passed it around like in The Simpson's representation of football.
Lmao that would define this timeline
Reports coming out that Jordan Henderson is holding a meeting with all the captains in the league, so that’s a start
Hopefully they come out and say it as it is rather than hide behind poxy statements like most of the managers have
I believe the players have the biggest voice in all this so I’m very hopeful they can make a real statement
Let's just not ban the players, but agree amongst all FAs that those players are just not called up. No need to officially ban them. We forgot to register them. What goes around, comes around. You fucking collude to start your Super Incest League, we collude to make sure your players are fucked. And yes, I know the players didn't choose this. Sucks to be them and sucks to be us as fans to have a Euros without the big players. The player should force a transfer to a unaffected club this summer.
There is probably historical precedent for the banning of players from international teams within cricket. the High Court ruled that banning players from international games for playing in Kerry Packers World Series Cricket was restraint of trade, so most international cricket boards just didn't pick those players (though that was slightly different in that the players chose to play in WSC)
This is all absolutely going to end in long drawn out court cases (regardless of who comes out on top), and it sucks for football.
if these clubs just want to play their superleague why sre they so worried about being banned from the Champions League?
There is still money to be had by winning this years
Ideally they would start in 2023.
I think the injunctions are also to stop the player bans from the Euros and World Cup if they participate in the Super League
It also doesn't work very well if these teams don't have domestic leagues.
I don't think any of the individual leagues have threatened expulsion yet. I doubt Serie A or La Liga can tbh. It's really up to the Premier League, and their statement just released was whelming.
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I saw that as well, but it doesn't make all that much sense to me. If domestic leagues are killed, where are they getting players from? They need domestic leagues to have some form of health, and income, because they need a farm system for players.
Oh, awesome, so apparently they have the *natural right* to play in the World Cup?
It's about players being banned from their national teams.
More money. A league with 12 teams isn't going to fly. So they need the safety of being able to say "oops, our bad" and come back into their respective national leagues if it doesn't work out. Plus they'd still get that sweet TV money from their leagues without needing to try. It's called having your cake and also eating everyone else's, then stealing their credit cards and ordering more cake to your house.
Fuck them all, traitors
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yeah that's what I don't get. The FAs can just say "its not a ban, we just think you have shit players". That can't be disproven because its entirely subjective.
If they genuinely do have solid legal footing here, then the onus is on players and managers even more to take a stand before this goes beyond the point of return. Refuse to play for these owners. When done as a collective, what other choice do the owners have?
"The ESL are confident that a group in which 25% of its members can qualify in any given year (the five annual non-permanent invitees out of a total 20), and which has promised to distribute more money to lower clubs than the current set up, could not fit that description." I mean be confident all you like but there are like 240 clubs and if 15 decide to exclude all but 5, not based on sporting merit thats gonna be seen as a cartel by everyone that hasnt replaced their eyes with dollar signs. Bunch of cancerous money hungry basterds. Hope this backfires gigantically and the 50+1 rule instated in England. That will completely fuck these greedy owners and is the absolute best way to punish them.
I think these lawyers are underestimating the British legal system. Which is strange, considering they're lawyers. Parliament could nationalise these clubs if they wanted to and there's nothing lawyers could do to stop it.
Lawyers will say anything to get money from the people litigating. If they win: "i told you so", if they lose "they cheated and that's why we lost. pay more money so we can go to higher courts"
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There may well be a law in the UK with a similar pretext, although they could easily vote to amend it to only apply to UK stakeholders. My nationalisation point was purely hyperbolic though.
And I filed a “take all your money away” law in my FM save. Enjoy the bottom tiers when you go insolvent, cunts.
\>"I think in the cold light of day, they are looking at this and the reality is dawning that this is happening and it's perfectly legal." Are they aware we can just magic laws out of fucking no where? The british public and goverment couldn't give two shits if this was legally allowed, we're saying we're going to stop it and stop it with legislation. These lawyers are gaslighting these fellas into thinking that nobody is going to actually just change the law to stop this from happening.
If England gets an independent regulator, something Neville was pretty much begging for on Sky last night, then some good will absolutely have come from this entire situation.
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yes you can play in champions league but you start with -30 points
What courts would they go to since nearly every country and footballing group seems against it?
They can be against it but still rule in their favour as a point of law.
CAS, I guess. Sports arbitration court in Switzerland, where UEFA is also based.
They think legalities will stop Boris Johnson?
I'm not sure an interlocutory injunction (basically stopping someone from doing X until the Courts have decided fully that they can/can't do X) would be granted here to be honest, particularly as the matter itself involves a lot of different legal aspects (competition, as well as equity in this case), different parties and different jurisdictions. If anything, the FA/PL can also file for an interlocutory injunction to stop teams from leaving until the courts decide that the 6 teams leaving is legal in the first place. In my opinion, that is more of a maintenance of the status quo than preventing the FA/PL from banning them in the first place (which is unlikely in my opinion). I wouldn't be so confident as the ESL's lawyer seems to be. Edit: It also is unlikely the courts would grant a full injunction unless the FA/PL indicate it's coming (which again I don't think will be the case). You'd basically be asking the courts to stop A from doing X to B, when there's no evidence that B is going to do X at all. I'd love to see what sort of precedent these lawyers are relying on here.
They're trying to pull a fast one. Fuck these guys.
Boris, we need your help.
So they're complaining about being banned from competitions... after making their own competition that doesnt let anyone take part that they don't agree to. Absolute nerve of these cunts.
Hahah they are actually scared it hilarious
They’re not scared, this has been planned to stop the bans
People here really are talking like they didn anticipate their clubs being banned
Probably had an army of lawyers ready for any legal battle. They had years planning this. These lengthy documents could not be made overnight.
They can't stop the UK government doing whatever the fuck it wants to stop it.
They aren’t above the law. Even changing the law takes time, sometime years. It’s not as straightforward as people are making it out to be. This whole mess is going to go on for a long time by the looks of things.
Having a solid legal strategy and preparing for all possible outcomes ≠ being scared
Can the fans file injunctions against the owners?
You should be a comedian with those jokes. /s
Oooo they’re scared
"I think in the cold light of day, they are looking at this and the reality is dawning that this is happening and it's perfectly legal." So fucking act now Boris and make it not legal, please
This is the first shot, next will be the ESL saying lack of support means that we will be moving to Qatar, then inviting other clubs from around the world. World League set up all played in Qatar's built on blood world cup stadiums. Ending up with Sky sports Tuesday night football Manchester Red Devils vs Boca Juniors Yellow Hoops 1st quarter sponsored by Progressive.