After some horse-trading towards the end of last week, involving a reluctant Spartak Moscow, a huge step was taken on Monday towards establishing a Unified Football Championship across former-Soviet countries. 14 Russian clubs met a representative club from the Ukrainian league in Moscow, with Ukrainian clubs now due a corresponding meeting.
The event was hosted by Gazprom deputy chairman, Alexei Miller, an ally of Vladimir Putin, who afterwards briefed Russian media and indicated Uefa were aware of their plans.
Miller said, “We think it is realistic to hold the championship from the autumn of 2014 to the spring of 2015, but if the time to reach agreements drags on, we plan to hold the championship from autumn 2015 to spring 2016.
“Since a championship like this is a complicated diplomatic matter, we have decided to initiate the championship initially with Ukraine only.
“In the future, if everything works out, we will be able to co-opt clubs from the other countries in the post-Soviet territories, but that’s the next step. All former-Soviet countries would be eligible to join.”
Show me the money
Gazprom sponsor the Uefa Champions League and are keen to sponsor the new league. Miller was clear that money would drive the change, promising annual sponsorship of €1 billion, which in world football is (a close) second only to the value of the next FA Premier League TV contract.
Uefa Financial Fair Play requirements make change, of some sort, inevitable in Russia and Ukraine. Leading clubs there are heavily subsidised by benefactors and, unless they manage to considerably improve their income, they will have to either get rid of all their expensive players, or forgo European competition.
As things stand, the sums don’t add up but money from a Unified Football Championship would allow clubs in Russia and Ukraine to meet Uefa Financial Fair Play requirements and compete with major leagues in the west. Gazprom have the seed cash and political influence, both domestically and at Uefa, to oil the wheels.
In 2005 Uefa sanctioned the Royal League in Scandinavia between the top four clubs from Denmark, Sweden and Norway, but the initiative was poorly organised and perished three years later due to a lack of a TV deal.
After this experiment several clubs across Europe started lobbying to extend the strategy to other leagues which were disenfranchised by a lack of competition or TV income. The principle was further confirmed by Michel Platini and the Uefa Executive Committee in March last year, when they approved a three year probationary period for the BeNe League, which combined top women’s teams from Belgium and the Netherlands, the first season of which is now underway.
The Committee stated at the time that, subject to a satisfactory outcome of the BeNe experiment, other cross-border leagues would be considered by the Executive Committee if all stakeholders (national associations, leagues and clubs) came to agreement on a way forward.
The former-Soviet countries are now motivated to regionalise. The Scandinavians have understood the potential of regionalisation for years but didn’t get it right (they retained national leagues which determined European qualification, the Royal League was effectively a friendly competition). The Belgians and Dutch have a pan-national league already underway, while the former-Yugoslav countries have discussed implementing the same for a couple of years now.
Wales and England have the longest-established regionalised league system in the world.
Meanwhile…………. at a national stadium near you, the only change on the agenda is whether to have three lower leagues or two.
Scottish football is fully aware the viability of many clubs is at a critical level, but have singularly failed to present the vision evident elsewhere in Europe. Whatever world-class technical, stadium and coaching resources we have is being squandered by unambitious leadership.
Months into deliberations Scottish football is only addressing how to slice up an ever-smaller pie. The enormous increase in income possible from regionalisation to SPL clubs, and what trickles-down to the lower leagues, dos not seem to have registered.
Hard cash can focus minds..
Spartak Moscow owner, Leonid Fedun, was highly critical of plans for the new league and insisted he would not attend Monday’s meeting but after doing so he said, “When I heard the budget per year was €1 billion I changed my mind and decided to attend. You can’t miss a chance to be the part of that game.”
Football across Europe is set for change, a fact a great deal of the UK media seem to have missed.
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Official DUFC @dundeeunitedfc
[U20s]: 88:Stone wall penalty for Celtic denied by Referee.
Retweeted by Paul Larkin
Nothing changes eh.
What a goal THAT was
Barca are out.
Ex Portsmouth Players 2-0 Barcelona
2-0 didn’t expect that.
What a goal AC …2-0
Milan doing well despite their stupid haircuts
Puyol being likened to an albino Klingon on Huddleboard. :-)
Tallybhoy
Puyol…that’s what I thought ok :-))
Catalan Quick News
Will be FUN tonight
Messi is crap
Evening
Really surprising score in San Siro – I watched Milan a couple of weekends ago I saw the Rossoneri play Cagliari and I thought they were hopeless. Totally outplayed Barca in the 2nd half
H x 2
Jimbo
Messi trying to do a Paddy McCourt there..
KevBarca says:
Sack the bored/board.
Off oot.
Barca would definitely take a repeat of the Celtic Park result now!
Barca have no idea how to break down such defensive teams – an all to familiar match for barca fans.
Acca lookin good
Puyol trying to do an Efe now….
Justin Beiber substituted
Headtheball – very good!
HH
AC Milan, Barca??
No bother Celtic beat them in Europe regularly!!
HH
A wee mention for the hoops there on TV!
Collum doing a CL game FFS …
Shalke/Porto final…..could have been our year
Milan could hardly get out their own half until the handball incident changed the direction of the game.
The Spanish media will slaughter Thomson tomorrrow.
Meanwhile back on Catalan Quick News, El joKo has slurred the Barca team by calling them a team of poor man diegos and tried to justify his comments, by explaining that their descendants were not wealthy and all had a first name of Diego.
Unrepentant, he knows everybody hates him and has gone away to eat worms :-)
HH
CRC
Doc.
Do you think barca froze tonight? :-)
Messi signs for Sevco
CRC
NICE ONE ,MOLT BO.
VP-Was in after the game on Saturday,you aff it for lent?
Sipsini, no not froze, great tactics, like I said the Milan boss phoned NFL.
He certainly studied the tapes of the CP game.
Defend deep and narrow, don’t let them play through you, make them go around and defend the corners. It has happened to them a couple of times now, they don’t have a plan B, where have we heard that before?
We did not lose two goals over there in 2007.
Great atmosphere.
celticrollercoaster,
Cruel, very cruel :-)
Milan played that the Celtic way…
Ghents
Catuga on KDS is correct re House ..self serving , empire building egotist
The “offensive etc” Act is dying on its erchie ….that’s why the polis have redoubled their efforts of late to lift folk…the matter is to be reviewed soon ….at present the figures are an embarrassment for House ……his officers will be under the strictest of instructions to make it work
Pity for House the courts can see this nonsense for what it is ….
!!Bada Bing!!
Aff it fir skint,back to work soon.We walked it back so ended up in Chappies mate.
Defend the corners should have been defend the crosses, unheard of at Ibrokes!
Doc
Correct …Barca have no height and aren’t dangerous from crosses or corners …play it narrow …they don’t like it
MWD
I’ll start punting it from tomorrow mate.
Why do SKy have to describe everything in EPL terms ?
Ex Portsmouth player scores!!!
Big deal.