Saudi Arabia FA interested in joining UEFA Champions League (Bloomberg)

dinostar77 said:
An guest invite? Fifa does something similar with Copa America since 1993 and invites nations such as japan etc.
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Again, a different situation.

CONMEBOL has only 10 members, so inviting extra teams allows them to make the tournament schedule more straightforward (no teams missing a round of matches).

I'm not sure what the proposals are (if they're even real) for Saudi entry to the CL, but I can't imagine many of the nations without automatic spots would be happy with this.
 
El Presidente said:
Armenia is considered a transcontinental country. Cyprus is literally part of the European Union for 20 years now.
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I don’t see how Armenia is transcontinental under any geographic definition of Europe, it’s well south of the main Caucasus range. And re: Cyprus I’m talking geographically not politically.
 
It would be interesting to see whether European clubs actually oppose this.

You'd think that they would - not on the genuinely justifiable grounds of Saudi Arabia not actually being in Europe, but simply due to the usual fear of increased competition.

Saudi Arabian clubs entering the Champions League would likely however force Saudi Arabia to operate under UEFA's FFP rules, which should curb Saudi Arabia's ability to outspend European clubs in the transfer market.
 
TrustInJanuzaj said:
The biggest issue is how do you manage the travel times, time zones etc and fit all of that into the existing calendar. It’s basically not workable in the current model.
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It's easily workable if you want it to happen. The timezones are not really an issue for South America or Saudi Arabia, the 3 hours differences exist within the UEFA. South America would be a long flight but it's more than doable.
 
2cents said:
I don’t see how Armenia is transcontinental under any geographic definition of Europe, it’s well south of the main Caucasus range. And re: Cyprus I’m talking geographically not politically.
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Turkey is considered transcontinental and Cyprus is an island south of Turkey. I suppose with Cyprus it just depends on how you carry the Europe/Asia border into the sea.
 
According to its own rules by UEFA there is possibility for this to happen. But you need to be member in UEFA to qualify for Champions League. There are two ways if it is going to happen. Executive committee can approve on provisional basis. Or a new membrer can be approved by congress. I think you can find rules somwhere.

However there are lots of stones and rocks on the way for that to happen. A member can’t be member in another association or confederation. It must be approved by FIFA. And few more rules.

Problem with this is not getting another member. Problem with this is that football and associations are further taking steps from ordinary people. There are already lot of people that have quit watching football because they feel that football is no longer sport it has been. Football doesn’t longer represent them.

One day, this will fall apart.
 
90 + 5min said:
According to its own rules by UEFA there is possibility for this to happen. But you need to be member in UEFA to qualify for Champions League. There are two ways if it is going to happen. Executive committee can approve on provisional basis. Or a new membrer can be approved by congress. I think you can find rules somwhere.

However there are lots of stones and rocks on the way for that to happen. A member can’t be member in another association or confederation. It must be approved by FIFA. And few more rules.

Problem with this is not getting another member. Problem with this is that football and associations are further taking steps from ordinary people. There are already lot of people that have quit watching football because they feel that football is no longer sport it has been. Football doesn’t longer represent them.

One day, this will fall apart.
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Nothing a truck load of cash won’t solve.
 
El Presidente said:
Armenia is considered a transcontinental country. Cyprus is literally part of the European Union for 20 years now.
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Cyprus, yeah but geographically it’s not. Politically it is, sure.

Armenia similarly is considered part of Europe politically but not geographically.

The geographical definition of Europe is arguably arbitrary in the sense of the features being recognised as the limits of the continent are merely convenient and logical and fixed. Armenia is south of the Greater Caucasus watershed whereas “geographic” Europe is north of this feature. Azerbaijan has territory either side, I believe.
 
Don't really care. Would be interesting to draw against Pensioners XI every once in awhile.
 
If they pay a billion a year to access it, you'd consider it. Other than that, no. A billion pounds split 32 ways is an extra £30m for every club in it.
 
Self destruction by Uefa surely if tye do this ? Weakens their own power and means big names will be more likely to leave the European leagues.

Madness..... but a lot of brown envelopes will be passed under tables.
 
typical narrow-minded, racist football fans. i doubt there would be the same outcry if a white european nation wanted to enter a team in the uefa champions league.
 
Irrational. said:
I don’t see what’s wrong with this, especially when teams like Maccabi Haifa and Tel Aviv are allowed in National and international European competitions. Why the double standards?
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They shouldn't be allowed either.
 
It was a matter of time and obvious to everyone. Everything else is just living in denial. The Saudi League and teams are going to be a major part of football in the future. Unlike the Chinese, they are actually backed by the state.
 
Telsim said:
It was a matter of time and obvious to everyone. Everything else is just living in denial. The Saudi League and teams are going to be a major part of football in the future. Unlike the Chinese, they are actually backed by the state.
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And what a lovely state it is. :rolleyes:
 
Why not. The ME practically owns the sport now anyway. Let’s not pretend there is a line that hasn’t already been crossed.
 
I'm sure nothing dodgy will happen if one of the four clubs that Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund now own qualify for a tournament that the PIF will inevitably also become the primary sponsor of.
 
utdalltheway said:
Agreed, if only they were allowed in their federation's competitions, which they haven't been, so UEFA let them in.
Blame their neighbours, not the israelis.
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I didn't know about this, but I wasn't blaming anyone. Just don't think Asian sides should compete in a European tournament.
 
Zen86 said:
Why not. The ME practically owns the sport now anyway. Let’s not pretend there is a line that hasn’t already been crossed.
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Relocating clubs to their owner’s countries. Playing league matches in foreign countries. There are loads of lines that haven’t been crossed, but we’re edging closer to it each season.
 
I hope UEFA is aware that engaging Saudi in this conversation and attempting to meet at some appeasement middle ground due to Saudi's increasing power would be to under undermine themselves dramatically. The country sees this (and practically all of its Vision 2030 activity) through a zero-sum lens, it has even issued an ultimatum to any business operating in the region, saying that if their regional headquarters are not based within Saudi itself by 2024, they'll be blacklisted from all govt. contracts. The country's strategy is an aggressive one with no interest in cooperation or compromise, only total power. If UEFA entertains this in the hope of quelling their ambitions, they'll only erode their own power.
 
I shudder to think what football will be like in a decade with crap like this being proposed!
 
Saudi and Israel would need to build some bridges first, could get awkward if they drew eachother....i know they are working on it but still.

Also they have the Arab Club Champions Cup which is their UCL equivalent and spans the Arab World, champs of that vs champs of europe makes more sense. And before someone says Israel should be in that and not the UCL good luck with that.
 
Spark said:
Relocating clubs to their owner’s countries. Playing league matches in foreign countries. There are loads of lines that haven’t been crossed, but we’re edging closer to it each season.
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It hardly represents a corruption of the game does it. Nation states are pouring money into clubs to distort competition and gain influence. They’re defrauding the ruling bodies and threatening legal action at every turn to the point where they back down, they make a complete mockery of the rules. They’re buying up multiple clubs for their franchises, hoarding youth, and moving players around their portfolio. The game is gone, who really gives a shit about a few teams of their own joining a competition. These people own the sport now and major actors already.
 
Alex99 said:
Again, a different situation.

CONMEBOL has only 10 members, so inviting extra teams allows them to make the tournament schedule more straightforward (no teams missing a round of matches).

I'm not sure what the proposals are (if they're even real) for Saudi entry to the CL, but I can't imagine many of the nations without automatic spots would be happy with this.
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And this is just the natural evolution of things because UEFA has not given a feck about said nations for a while, because why does the 5th places team in the PL get an automatic place in the group stages ahead of the champions of Northern Ireland who have to go through 3 qualifying stages?

This is nothing but hilarious. Imagine a group stage where half the clubs are clustered around the Arabian Gulf and PL teams are complaining about things being so unfair :drool:
 
There is no way the top clubs would agree to participate in the champions league with this, they would prob start the super league back up. Can you imagine how badly the top European clubs would get bullied for their players by the Saudi teams if they started creeping into the Champions league.

It would be suicide.
 
EireRed_GS said:
Fair enough, We know how ambitious they are already.. but let's be honest.. even some of the last seeded teams in the CL would prob batter the Saudi teams. They are miles off CL level... Miles
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For now.
 
It's ridiculous how fast they are moving. Just this weekend I was surprised to see Saudi league games on my TV. Now if they get Champions League in 2025, I can genuinely see them building the equivalent of 4 PSG teams in the next 2 years, and become very attractive for TV and sponsorship deals.
Really curious to see how FFP will evolve if they end up joining a European competition. I can see them negotiating a shady exemption to allow unlimited spending in the first few years.
 
Tender Teacher said:
It would be interesting to see whether European clubs actually oppose this.

You'd think that they would - not on the genuinely justifiable grounds of Saudi Arabia not actually being in Europe, but simply due to the usual fear of increased competition.

Saudi Arabian clubs entering the Champions League would likely however force Saudi Arabia to operate under UEFA's FFP rules, which should curb Saudi Arabia's ability to outspend European clubs in the transfer market.
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Like it stopped Man City and PSG?
 
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