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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Snake Plissken
12:13 on 21 February, 2013
Let me get this right.
You’re an SNP activist posting SNP propaganda on here but you’ve never heard of the SNP being referred to as the Strictly No Papes party?
Do you accept that the SNP was founded on a wave of anti Irish Catholic immigrant feeling in Scotland, with a view to furthering that agenda?
What I’d like to know, and you sound like you’d be the one to tell me, is when the SNP ever renounced or apologised for the things that its previous leaders said.
Regarding separation of church and state, is that not the de facto position in Scotland already?
Yet Scotland is a far more bigoted and sectarian country than England.
Why is that?
Could it be something to do with the nature of Scottish society rather than anything to do with the UK constitution?
It also looks like Labour are well on track to winning the next General Election, so it looks like Salmond’s tactic of delaying the referendum til the last possible moment is going to come back to bite him on his morbidly obese arse.
And before any other SNP sock puppets come on moaning about me or anyone else posting anti nationalist stuff let me just point out that it was, as ever, a nat who raised the topic.
would anyone like to see a return to the days when celtic would intimidate the opposition in the tunnel,a chorus of HAIL HAIL and say kilmarknock singing paper roses.
just a thought
HH
GordonJ
Re Glasgow City. I watched them over several seasons and right from my first meeting they were ambitious and I have admired how they have continued to grow.
The decision not to allow them to uproot and take root in a bigger pot is typical the role football associations play in putting their own interests above the game. I mean if everybody moved we would not need national associations would we?
Snake Plissken
10:51 on
21 February, 2013
http://newsnetscotland.com/index.php/scottish-opinion/6781-the-sectarian-foundation-of-the-united-kingdom
An interesting wee read for those vote no people and anyone else who is interested.
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A very good link………
Voting yes would mean becoming the largest minority in a small institutionally bigoted and largely unaccountable country…….theres no guarantee of EC oversight at his juncture.
Voting no would mean remaining the largest minority in a larger country which is reasonably benevolent at the lower levels of society towards its minorities in a relatively accountable country.
Its all about trust and perception in the end and wether as the largest minority here in Scotland we trust our Protestant masters to be fair, reasonable and honourable.
When you have Donald Findlay QC forced to resign his directorship from RFC (IA) and Scottish MSP’s making openly sectarian remarks and accusations in Parliament with impunity it indicates that sectarianism is both institutionalised and deep rooted in both the public and private aspects of Scottish society.
Personally I am not against indepedence for Scotland but rather who will deliver this independence and I do not trust my Protestant masters in this.
I’m voting NO
cic
Sorry to hear that. At least she didnt suffer a long term of pain and suffering that I have experienced in the past and is not nice to see. She is at peace now.
In my prayers and thoughts. YNWA
I wonder if after a merge of th eleagues in Russia and the Ukraine they will go after, er invite other leagues from Eastern European countries, from the baltics to the black sea (and Finland) to join their new organisation, let’s call it a block of countries, or the Russian Block.
In central Europe you could have Austria and Germany merging leagues, perhaps inviting near neighbours Poland, Hungary might fit in here. Since France is so large they might look to include clubs from Strasbourg and Metz to join this association. It would probably make sence too for the Dutch, Belgian and Danes to join this.. let’s call it Hanseatic League.
The swiss can do what they like.
Another option for the Spanish Netherlands would be to join an Iberian League (sponsored by Peek Freans Bourbon Creams) with Spain and Portugal, possibly including the Basque regions of France and the Rock of Gibralta.
Further north a British league could be formed (with the exception of Ireland) a kind of Allied League, and any escapees from France and Poland could also join this league, if they are willing to relocate. After a few years teams from the US might have a look and decide to join in too.
It might make sense for the Italian League (sponsored by Garibaldi) to join with the Hanseatic League, but a Mediteranean League could be formed with Greece and Turkey, a sort of Roman Legion.
Just a though
Channel Island Celt- So sorry to read of your loss, a very sad time indeed for you and all of your family.