Super League, DFL deal, FIFA
At some point football really dies
By Stephan Uersfeld and Sebastian Schneider
December 21, 2023, 7:19 p.m
The European Court of Justice opens the door for a Super League in European football. But who actually wants that? It’s the next chapter in a terrible year for sports.
Who else is supposed to keep up? The next death of football. Last week, the DFL waved through an investor deal, then FIFA is expanding the Club World Cup even further from summer 2025. And on the next corner is A22, what is now known as the Super League agency, and is pulling its plans out of the drawer. Another new league. The new, larger Champions League with its 36 clubs is coming in 2024.
Here, in the A22 fantasy league, there are even 64 clubs that are supposed to play in a three-tier system during the week. It should be about solidarity, openness and meritocracy. These are the big keywords. The idea is a three-tier system in which there should first be a league round and then a knockout round. No more unnecessary and boring games, that’s the promise. All for free for the spectators, for the fans of the game.
They’re designed to connect with the game in a whole new way. Like this has never happened before. Why are the national leagues still needed, even if they continue to exist? Everything will be visible on a yet-to-be-created platform called “Unify”. All the games, all the highlights, all over the world – without paying a cent. Who will finance all of this remains unclear. About advertising, says A22 manager Bernd Reichart. Because the league brings together “billions of fans” through free access, this is extremely interesting for advertising customers.
The year the World Cup went to Saudi Arabia
It is a fantasy world from the minds of those who continue to crave new sources of income to satisfy their addiction. It is an addiction that no longer has anything to do with the original idea of the sport. But what’s left of this idea?
It is the year in which the de facto awarding of the 2034 World Cup to Saudi Arabia and the 2030 World Cup caused people to shake their heads on so many continents that no one can or wants to remember it anyway. And it is still the year in which Saudi Arabia’s attack on European club football began. There is no end in sight and cannot be expected – the World Cup in the Kingdom is still a decade away.
The battle for football is taking on unimaginable proportions. It goes on and on, it’s about even more money, even more planning and even more games. Of course, the fans who have to submit to each of these decisions are left behind. Their power is unlimited. They just couldn’t come to the stadium anymore, they just couldn’t turn on the TV anymore. You should stop throwing gold coins onto the field and give up: it’s over. Yet again.
“Football is FREE”
The game’s Gravediggers won in 2023. It doesn’t matter whether they are called FIFA, UEFA or even A22, which can only advertise publicly with Real Madrid and the bankrupt club FC Barcelona. Other clubs are interested, but naming names would now go too far. They don’t want to divide football, they want to save it through the new league. The only question is who gave the order to rescue and what he should be saved from?
“Football is FREE. The clubs no longer have to fear sanctions AND can now determine their own future,” cheered Bernd Reichart after the European Court of Justice’s ruling. The opposite is the case. And of course the two Spanish giants jumped to his side, and of course UEFA and the European leagues positioned themselves against it. The fan groups that are otherwise at loggerheads with UEFA are also involved. They are talking about a concrete threat to European football. These are the usual mechanisms.
On this December 21st, 2023, football died again. Like so many times this year. He doesn’t have many lives left. At some point he’s really dead. At some point he’s no longer interested. This future is getting closer and closer.