Football fans everywhere are railing against the proposed formation of a breakaway European Super League – but it’s got some asking a question regarding Rangers and Celtic.
Twelve of Europe’s top clubs have signed up to proposed 20 team structure which is believed to worth a whopping £4.6bn to its participants [BBC Sport].
The twelve founding members of the league include the Premier League’s “big six” in Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and – despite not winning a Premier League title for over 50 years – Tottenham Hotspur.
These English sides are joined by three Italian clubs (AC Milan, Inter, Juventus) and three Spanish clubs (Atletico, Barcelona, Real Madrid) with another three unnamed sides making up a core, static 15 sides.
Alongside these – as a sort of tease to convince other sides of the competition – five clubs will qualify from around Europe each season based on their domestic achievements.
The format of the competition would see two groups of ten play each other home and away before a knockout format made up of the top three in each group and the winners of a playoff between the fourth and fifth placed sides.
The tournament would effectively replace the Champions and Europa Leagues for these sides with all participants expected to continue in their domestic divisions as things stand.
This move also comes at a time of proposed Champions League reform with representatives of the twelve clubs all reportedly resigning from the European Club Association as a result [BBC Sport].
The move has been met with widespread condemnation from football fans everywhere who believe these clubs are concentrating football’s wealth into their own hands and damaging the integrity of the sport.
Should the proposed league go ahead then the 15 clubs who’re guaranteed a place in the European Super League would be handed an immense financial advantage year on year domestically without having technically earned it through current performance.
As it stands both UEFA and FIFA have railed against the move with threats being levelled regarding the banning of players who play in the competition from international tournaments.
Others have called for participating clubs to be banned from their respective domestic leagues, something which introduces Rangers to plenty of people’s thinking.
Some fans have asked the question over whether Rangers and Celtic could help form a special Premier League down south with the remaining sides in English football:
https://twitter.com/SloanRanger11/status/1384080405536460800
https://twitter.com/nufcbenny/status/1384080996509765635
https://twitter.com/LozzaOfficial/status/1383882424816312323
It’s certainly an idea which is gaining traction but there are a few moral issues such as where abouts this would leave the already cash-strapped league in Scotland.
It would certainly make football more competitive north of the border but would Rangers and Celtic joining the ranks down south have shades of what the European Super League clubs are doing?
As things stand the Champions League is still set to undergo some major proposals – here’s more on them and how they will affect Rangers.