U.K. Draws Up Plans to Stop Breakaway European Soccer League

LONDON(Capital Markets in Africa) — The U.K. government is drawing up plans to prevent the creation of a European breakaway soccer league comprising the world’s richest clubs, after Prime Minister Boris Johnson condemned the idea.

“We will put everything on the table to prevent this from happening,” Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said in the House of Commons on Monday, adding that the government is not ruling out legislative measures. “We will do whatever it takes to protect our national game.”

Dowden said the U.K. will back actions taken by soccer authorities, while ministers will look at competition law and also what the government does to facilitate matches, and whether it should continue that support.

“This is of course for the football authorities to handle first,” Dowden told Parliament. The FA and UEFA are “rightly considering wide range of sanctions and measures to stop this move in its tracks,” he said.

The European Super League proposal, which would mark the sport’s biggest overhaul in decades in Europe and make elite teams wealthier, has been roundly criticized by fans and politicians. There’s growing pressure on Johnson to intervene and Dowden also announced the start of a “fan-led review” of soccer governance, which was promised in the Conservative Party’s 2019 election manifesto and hadn’t yet begun.

Six of the founder clubs of the proposed league are from the U.K.: Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur.

Hand Forced
Dowden said he hadn’t wanted to start the review until soccer was back to normal after the pandemic but that his hand had been forced. Led by former sports minister Tracey Crouch, it will look at how the finances and governance of soccer and how fans can have a greater say in the oversight of games.

Crouch will also look at the Premier League’s “fit and proper person” test for prospective owners, Dowden said.

Dowden said he will talk to his French counterpart this week and is also seeking meetings with the Spanish and Italian government to discuss the Super League proposal.

‘U.S. Import’
The breakaway plan was criticized by MPs from across the political spectrum. “This is a U.S. import we don’t want,” Labour’s business spokeswoman Lucy Powell said in Parliament.

It’s not the first time facing the issue for the government, which last year clashed with the wealthiest Premier League soccer clubs over the terms of a proposed bailout of lower divisions during the pandemic — a proposal Dowden said at the time amounted to a power grab.

Johnson said soccer clubs have a strong link with their fans and their local communities, and this should continue.

“I don’t think it’s good news for football in this country,” Johnson told broadcasters while on a trip to Gloucestershire Monday. “I don’t like the look of these proposals, and we’ll be consulted about what we can do.”