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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hen1rik
Cant get into that, but Masterton was up to his neck with moonbeams,
An old BRTH post
http://www.celticunderground.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=912:the-corporate-vandalism-of-scottish-football&catid=47:season-2011-2012&Itemid=83
I’m Neil Lennon (tamrabam) @15:49 we could have a big hooley at Parkhead with all the share holding fans in attendance and we could vote on major items like season ticket prices.
Eacxh fan votes a number and we take the average rounded up to the nearest ten
Ditto concessions for the unemployed, students, children, ne’er-do-wells, DLA wallahs, away fans, Italians etc …
From @stephmc1888
So Rapid have been paid £800,000 by Sevco, but Deedco still owe £1.8m for Jelavic
The same Jelavic who helped them win league in 10/11
Old walters last title is as tainted as his first few *Old News Alert*
Not only did they not pay Rapid to use the player to score alot of important goals …they then sold him and used the money to pay wages to players for a month or so
And they had the cheek to say our title was tainted!
Yes Mort a vote on the GB. And maybe re-jig a bit of the stadium so they can be accommodated without discomfitting any other fans.
leftclicktic
15:56 on 20 February, 2013
Cheers mate.
lionroars67
15:49 on 20 February, 2013
That would (generally) be ‘Philippina’ nurse but hey the guy doesn’t even appear to know Greece from Denmark/Germany or wherever he was plopped………….The tosser is forever quoted as being a straight up talker when really he is just a throwback…………..
TBM
Can I be in charge of counting all the votes?
You need someone you can trust.
Celtic Graves@CelticGraves
We are delighted to to announce our next Commemoration in New York/NJ in April remembering the legendary Charlie Shaw
://twitter.com/CelticGraves/status/304258088687525888/photo/1
Baxy baxendale@wiredz
RT It was Rangers lawyers that submitted to the enquiry that Rangers ceased to be a club!! pic.twitter.com/nKH2KEXm”” @ETimsNet plz RT OOFT
Dooooooooooooh
https://twitter.com/Eddiek62/status/304142837602217984/photo/1
leftclicktic
Mail on Sunday
Bank wrote off £4.5m loan to ex-boss’s firm
.. .then they gave his company an even bigger handout
By Andrew Picken
THE Bank of Scotland wrote off a £4.5 million loan to a firm owned by its former managing director.
But, despite being left out of pocket, bank executives then gave another firm, owned by Fife businessman Gavin Masterton, a new £12 million loan.
A Scottish Mail on Sunday investigation into the finances of Mr Masterton, owner of ailing Dunfermline Athletic FC, has uncovered close ties with his former employer.
The latest revelations show that the £4.5 million loan was written off in 2004 as parts of Mr Master-ton’s busi¬ness empire failed.
However, less than four years later Bank of Scotland bosses approved a £12 million loan deal with a company owned by the 71-year-old, which let it skip repayments for 35 years.
Sources suggest the deals were personally approved by disgraced HBOS executive Peter Cummings.
One said: The Gavin situation was very embarrassing for the bank. He only left them a few years before and they lent his companies a lot of money. The deals were very much about wiping out or recycling his debts as quickly as possible. It is treatment the vast majority of bank customers would not have enjoyed.’
In 2003, Wood Investments (Scotland) Limited was owned by two businesses within Mr Masterton’s complex web of companies.
Accounts show it lent Dunfermline Athletic £4.5 million, understood to be from a Bank of Scotland loan.
Wood Investments’ accounts for the year after show £4.4 million was ‘provided for’ and sources confirmed the bank wrote the money off.
The same accounts show that Mr Masterton and Dunfermline Athletic chairman John Yorkston both resigned as directors of Wood Investments, which was sold to SDG Property and SDG Caledonia Holdings.
This deal was linked to the collapse of companies trading under the name Stadia, a business started by Mr Masterton to develop land around football grounds.
Stadia banked with Bank of Scotland and is thought to have racked up debts of around £25 million.
There has been intense scrutiny of Mr Masterton’s finances as his ailing First Division club struggles to pay tax and wage bills this season.
Earlier this month, the Scottish Mail on Sunday revealed details of a £12.2 million deal which show Mr Masterton’s company does not have to pay anything back until 2043.
The cash was used by one of Mr Masterton’s companies to buy Dunfermline’s stadium and records at Companies House suggest the loan is effectively interest-free as long as the Fife club remains there.
The records also show East End Park’s value was £5.9 million in 2007, rising to £11.2 million in 2008. The £12.2 million loan, with the stadium as security, was agreed in 2008.
A spokesman for Mr Masterton -who retired from the bank in 2001 -refused to comment on ‘confidential commercial matters’.
A spokesman for Lloyds Banking Group, of which taxpayer-backed Bank of Scotland is a part, said: ‘We do not comment on individual customers.’
……………………………………………………………
Murray’s old banker using the SDM method of stadium evaluation, it’s called the AFTYWITB method?
Answers on a postcard.
Ntassoolla
15:59 on
20 February, 2013
“Yes Mort a vote on the GB. And maybe re-jig a bit of the stadium so they can be accommodated without discomfitting any other fans.”
How do the GB currently discomfit other fans?
JJ
leftclicktic
Hilarious. But it’s nothing we didn’t all know, even Sevcovians. Everybody knows. It just suited them to pretend for a wee while that the charade they have been watching this football season was the continuation of the earlier charades they revelled in.
At least it got them out of the house.
Now, of course, Charles Green will have to tell them that the lawyery wee lawyers were just being lawyers and not to pay any heed and keep turning up and paying up for the 140 years’ unbroken histrionics, but pretending this lie isn’t a lie just became much more of a challenge than it already was.
Big Nan
Thank you
ps is the F for fraud ? :))
http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/blog/2013/feb/20/france-us-worker-rights-titan-international?CMP=twt_gu
Celtic_First
They will believe him :)) STUPID STUPID sevconians
JJ the GB debate has been done to death.
The wearisome tactic of trying to make people repeat everything time and again in the hope of winning the argument by attrition is put to the sword when people vote.
Contact Celtic and ask how many complaints they’ve had about the GB.
Contact the GB and ask how many warnings their brigade members have had.
I’ve just been to the doctor’s, and he told me I need to start watching what I eat. So I’ve bought tickets to go to the “Grand National!”
Ntassoola
What argument am I trying to win? I go to every Home game and have never seen the GB dicomfitting any other supporters.
JJ
! Bada Bing!
Beauty!
Any F*****g Thing You Want It To Be!
Hi chaps, just a brief lighthearted visit to possibly divert the attention of anyone else who thinks that the very concept of Gazprom, two of the most corrupt leagues in the world (see Tony Higgins report) and the goodness that glows from the heart of every ex-FSB/KGB Oligarch is a great model for the rest of the world to folly folly.
So if you would like something even dafter but possibly a bit more believeable….can I suggest you consider the ‘Monkland Canal Almanac’, a document to rival the ‘Dead Sea Scrolls’ in its historic analysis of the beginning of the world.
These were found when the Gartsherrie works of Baird and Scottish Steel were demolished. They have been kept secret ever since as the translation revealed a totally new version of Genesis.
You can of course judge for yourself or possibly throw yer money and principles at the feet of a Gucci beshod comrade of Abramovich!
This is of course only part one…..
A Chemistry Set called Genesis
Hail hail
Estadio
Jungle Jim @16:23 “I go to every Home game and have never seen the GB dicomfitting any other supporters.”
If that is so JJ then ahead of you lies a promising career as an SPL referee.
Roll up yir troosers.
have Focus decided to try and highlight a level of balance via the media?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-21522447
Che
Oldest trick in the book…
Shortbread said Rapid Vienna still trying to get some Jelavic money from Oldco.
4 arrests = disturbance
5 arrests = RIOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!
starry
indeed so
wonder if they turned up their place of work for a casual chat before lifting them?
leftclicktic
thats 12 of them arrested for same incident….
Ma wee Pal..Nutsy…who in No Sae Wee….as he is Two Inches ..OVER.. Six Feet Tall,
but, he happens tae be… a loat YOUNGER… than maist of the rest o’ us…
Hence, he wull be forever be.. well.. Wee tae us..
And anybuddy,who canny understaun that line of thinking..
Ah am sure …never hid A Wee Brither or Sister..
Although,oan the Ither Haun.. Ma Auld Pal.. Lou..is Far AULDER..than the rest of the
Gang… and..
He Nevah..is referred tae .. as..
BIG.. Lou.
Hmmmmmmmmm..
Anyway..
Nutsy, asked me ,the ither day..
“Whit the Heligoland..is… Zonal Marking.. Anywey?”
Ah wiz tempted tae reply..
“The Art of Marking ..well. Zones.”
But. although,that answer,did appeal tae ma Sensibilites.. Ah said ..
Instead..
“Ah Hivnae a Clue.”
which wiz the Trewth.
Noo..
Ah ask anybuddy ,ootthere..in CQLand… someone ,who .. actually.and positively.. Knows the answer tae that Question..
Nutsy and Me ..and another.. Forty Million Frenchmen.. wid be
delighted tae Hear..
Whit the Heck.. Zonal Marking, really is.
Kojo
Still.. Laughin’
leftclicktic
16:37 on 20 February, 2013
4 arrests = disturbance
5 arrests = RIOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!
—————————————————-
From BBC “Eight other men were also arrested on the evening of the 18 December match.”
8 + 4 = 12,
what’s the next stage up from a riot called?
charliebhoy
12:42 on
20 February, 2013
from russia with love…….well actually im in turkey on friday(side)any tips would be apreciated …thanks up front
==========
Bir daha, lutfen
Same again, please.
Ntassoola
SPL referees are equally famous for seeing things that no one else sees. I give you the Utd penalty last week.
JJ
Paul67
How the heck has Alex Miller got a gig with Gazprom after failing at St Mirren and Morton and Hibs etc…etc…etc…
Ok I’ll get mae coat.
Green Brigade holding a protest in George Square at 11.00 on Saturday for 15 minutes before heading to the game. If anyone wants to go along and show support for the GB and against Focus, bring your flags and voices.
HH
mighty tim
Slow walkers. The game is on Sunday 0:-)
JJ
mighty tim
Take a tent and a sleeping bag
The game is on Sunday
Love
Ntassoolla
16:20 on 20 February, 2013
”Contact Celtic and ask how many complaints they’ve had about the GB.”
How much of a tosser would someone have to be to complain to Celtic about the Green Brigade?
man flu and tiredness guys my apologies it is Sunday.
That’s it bully the sick messenger.
HH