Well if they're "in talks" then it surely means UEFA is open to it? Not surprised one bit, UEFA and FIFA are corrupt as feck.
Saudi Arabia FA interested in joining UEFA Champions League (Bloomberg)
- Thread starter Samid
- Start date
Not very sustainable or realistic to have teams travel 12,000 kilometres for multiple midweek games like the Champions League, if there's European hangover for domestic leagues already, then can only imagine then.
Surely not - the European Cup hosting a non European team?
The Champions League having teams that aren't Champions in it?
The Champions League having teams that aren't Champions in it?
In principle wouldn’t be against it, but then Saudi Arabia FA should join UEFA (like Israel is on UEFA and to a lesser degree Kazakhstan, or Australia being part of Asia confederation). Joining UEFA also means joining FFP.
They were not banned, they decided to move to UEFA. Nobody wanted to play against them. They were getting free 3-0 wins.
That's beside the point, the question isn't whether Israel should be a member of the UEFA or not but that Saudi Arabia aren't members of the UEFA and as far as I know they haven't applied or have any reason to do so. Which makes the parallel with Israel pointless and the claim of hypocrisy foollish.
They have about 4/5 really good players.. The rest of their squad is rubbish.
We have about 15 really good players way above their level and we will prob struggle in the Champions League past the groups
This will definetely happen. Money talks.
Just like the F1 "european gp" being held in azerbajan.
I doubt they'd want to join UEFA - that'd instantly make qualifying for the World Cup orders of magnitude more difficult for their national team.
That is not a big deal. Sponsors can come up overnight, as an when needed.
Israel was expelled from the AFC in the 70s...
Excellent point. Theres a precidence.
Neither is israel who is a UEFA member.
Its 4d chess from CR7
People thought that was the end of Ronaldo in the UCL... Ronaldo the mastermind.
You can bet your bottom dollar Uefa will find a way as long as the money keeps coming in.
I'll add, dont forget who the European Club Assoication president is....
Nasser Al-Khelaifi is the Chairman of the European Club Association (ECA), the sole, independent body directly representing football clubs across Europe.
The PSG chairman.
Nasser Al-Khelaifi is the Chairman of the European Club Association (ECA), the sole, independent body directly representing football clubs across Europe.
The PSG chairman.
If by "we" you mean United, there's still a reasonably strong chance we will be as there are like 8 slots for the next best UEFA clubs based on coefficient points, of which United are currently 7th.
Well not really because Uefa don't exist in a vaccuum, if they started inviting clubs around the world then Fifa would barge in and look for the profits and other associations, while the Premier League would not be happy at it potentially devaluing their competition, the players would also likely protest about excessive air travel and having to play too many games.
Well if the aussie cnuts can sing in the Eurosong....
All of these countries are partially in Europe geographically. Probably not Kazakhstan, can’t be bothered to check.
Israel were literally playing World Cup qualifiers with the Oceanic nations because they were expelled from the Asian confederation. This is a very different situation and there absolutely is not president for it.
The ESL should have been the path to break away from UEFA
I would say this is the beginning of the end of the sport we once knew. But I think it’s well past that point already.
This has to be a windup. We are expecting clubs in Europe to be run financially sustainably, and then we think we should be competing with the exact opposite based on what we are seeing in the market currently...what could possibly be in it for UEFA to consider such a thing...? Oh right.
Honestly if this goes through they may as well just bin FFP for European competitions it will be a complete waste of time. That in turn will trash the integrity of the competitions, but it seems money is all that matters so as long as it looks good on TV and sells advertising. It's just sheer greed. I wonder how much it will take for local FAs to start considering an alternative.
Honestly if this goes through they may as well just bin FFP for European competitions it will be a complete waste of time. That in turn will trash the integrity of the competitions, but it seems money is all that matters so as long as it looks good on TV and sells advertising. It's just sheer greed. I wonder how much it will take for local FAs to start considering an alternative.
Yes, but a maximum of 2 participants per country unless competition winners, and we already have Chelsea and Man City going.
I am part of the "I told you so" brigade when this becomes a thing.
Didn't see that bit. As you were.
Do you think that makes one iota of difference when bags of money are thrown at UEFA?
Teams from Israel will love this.
Al Hilal’s squad is currently worth 222M.
For comparison Red Star Belgrade’s is 67M. FC Malmo is 30M. I don’t think the likes of SMS, Kante etc. have to even train during the week to demolish any Swedish double pivot they would be up against.
With a bit of luck, a Saudi team can play a CL knockout game this year. Imagine in 12 months time. Or about in 3-5 years.
E will stand for EURO, and they will send millions of them to buy... I beg you pardon, to contribute to football development on UEFA clubs.
How is that relevant to anything. The ECA is a private entity that was created to lobby the UEFA at the time it was the G-14. They have nothing to do with federations and confederations.
if we finish 5th, would we as a fanbase refuse our participation in next seasons big cup league on the lack of merit etc?
all this stuff is the natural evolution of the game ever since the premier league started and football realised what a cash cow it could be. we were a key part of it.....
all this stuff is the natural evolution of the game ever since the premier league started and football realised what a cash cow it could be. we were a key part of it.....
Israel and Saudis already have military and business alliances, I doubt it will be a thing.
Probably the most intelligent point made. From a regulatory perspective they surely would have to be a member of UEFA to take part in a UEFA competition. It also takes a spot from a FFP compliant team.
For what its worth I think it would be a terrible move, which is why I expect it will probably happen.
Terrible idea. Not for morality reasons regarding Saudi Arabia or whatever but because it's obviously not European. I'd the same about South American clubs or Japanese clubs or whatever.
They represent all of the elite clubs. If your UEFA you will talk to the ECA as it has done for the past twenty years.
Purely a question of the necessary number and thickness of the brown envelopes at this stage.
Boring
Ronaldo’s final hurrah was to put the nail in football’s coffin