And that's the reason why they're a uefa member...
Saudi Arabia FA interested in joining UEFA Champions League (Bloomberg)
- Thread starter Samid
- Start date
It will happen. Money always wins.
With weekly 15 hours flights to play a game. Pretty absurd idea.Imagine a newly revamped international Champions League with Santos, Boca Juniors, River Plate, Palmeiras, Corinthians, Flamengo, etc, all involved.
Honestly what a daft thing to say. As if supporters of Man Utd, Liverpool, Barcelona, Real, Bayern etc would turn off from watching their teams in order to watch Al Ettihad vs Al Arabi because they’ve got some big names. Your avid football watching/attending fan isn’t some individual player fanboy chasing YouTube twat.
Uefa absolutely will not lose revenue to the Saudi League at any point ever. Uefa would simply let a Saudi team in and then bend federational rules for them for brown envelopes. That’s all it will take. At this point I personally couldn’t give a toss because the game has gone to shit and long sold its soul.
What will be interesting though is I bet the footballers themselves don’t push back against it. The same ones whinging about playing too many games and the extra added on time to games. You won’t hear a peep from them about this idea which would involve even more outrageous air travelling miles and games.
This won't happen and the moment it happens it will give fans the chance to back super league.
By the same logic, we should expect Saudi teams in PL and French league as there are clubs from Wales and Monaco competing in PL and French league?
Allowing Saudi club or any external club to compete in CL will be a disaster and will speed up super league.
Precisely right. I'm not saying I agree with it, but stupid precedents have been set. But you say that, yet there are already Israeli clubs in UEFA comps...
Time to bring back the Super League.
Always thought that was likely. The Israeli League is already included, no real reason why Saudi Arabian League would be any more wrong than this and there's obviously financial benefit for both sides.
And when Inter Miami inevitably win the MLS Cup they can also invite them to the following year's CL!
The Champions League already has too many teams, it needs to be trimmed back a bit.
I think the super league is inevitable.
a) The PL will be a victim of its own success. The PL clubs generated more revenue than all Bundesliga and La Liga clubs combined in terms of total revenue. There will be other football associations and clubs who will want to chip away at its power and money.
b) Either UEFA (to maintain its relevance) or a privately funded Super League will be formed at some point.
c) It's a fast-growing sport across the globe. The MLS is getting stronger and billions are thrown into the sport by the Saudis. They will eventually want a 'world champion' that includes others outside Europe.
Domestic leagues will remain the same. Just like the current equation.
But the CL will morph into the super league or there will be breakaway clubs forming it like the PL did, 30yrs ago. I can also see a promotion/relegation scenario for this Super League too. But the super club will have a larger share of the TV pie to indirectly ensure they remain.
Nah. Money will win if this doesn't happen too. Why? Because the top clubs are all about money that goes into their pockets. If they allow a Saudi club into the competition, then they now have a direct competitor for their players, and get a slice of the pie that would be pocketed by the top clubs.
If UEFA were to accept, they can no longer have the moral high ground that had fans backing them over a Super League. It was not politically convenient for some of the top clubs to entertain the idea of the Super League. And if UEFA no longer has that moral high ground, the politics behind the Super League now instantly becomes much more appealing for the fans of all the top clubs.
Super League will bring in more money so the top clubs would then just form that.
Super league is happening wether we like it or not
Kazakhstani and Israeli teams can qualify for the CL and neither Kazakhstan nor Israel are in Europe. Most of Turkey and Russia aren't in Europe either. Fenerbahce, a seasoned CL team, are an Asian team.
What's a non elitist/gatekeeping argument against this?
What's a non elitist/gatekeeping argument against this?
Super league is not such a bad idea.
Should have joined the original super league. That way the legacy clubs would have had control over our own futures/destiny.
Now we're just at the whim of a corrupt organisation who no doubt will add middle eastern teams after their board members receive some nice fat envelopes under the table.
Absolute farce.
Now we're just at the whim of a corrupt organisation who no doubt will add middle eastern teams after their board members receive some nice fat envelopes under the table.
Absolute farce.
The day a Saudi team is allowed to participate in the european CL is the day I'll stop watching it. My interest in football has waned in recent years anyways when sportswashing became mainstream.
Why do people keep bringing up Israel as some form of argument as to why this will happen?
It's a completely different situation, they are already part of the ENP and have strong cultural and political ties to Europe. Hence their inclusion.
Saudi on the Other hand don't.
This will never happen and I doubt is even in discussions.
I wouldn't be surprised if this was a marketing tool used by the Saudi kingdom to encourage the players that have to signed to move out there, sweeten the deal by claiming they'll be able to get a CL place..
It's a completely different situation, they are already part of the ENP and have strong cultural and political ties to Europe. Hence their inclusion.
Saudi on the Other hand don't.
This will never happen and I doubt is even in discussions.
I wouldn't be surprised if this was a marketing tool used by the Saudi kingdom to encourage the players that have to signed to move out there, sweeten the deal by claiming they'll be able to get a CL place..
The mental thing is how unsurprising this is, and how much I just expect it to one day happen. This sport is just so beyond grimy.
It's quite funny how every page has someone new mentioning Israel being in UEFA and then someone explains why they are...again. It's a bit like the Onana thread where the topic of the AFCON kept on coming up.
It's also quite funny that people have no problem with an apartheid, ethnic cleansing state participating in their favorite European tournaments, but will stop watching if an oil-rich Arab country joins.
They'll just make an exception under the pretence of allowing them to catch up. Like the academy clause. Spend what you like for 5 years, then you have to comply.
Excellent point
Yeah its the revised CL format from 2024 with a league instead of group stages. Its the 1st phase before it goes to a full league at some point in the future.
What is happening from 2024-25?
There will be 36 participating clubs, up from 32, who will play 189 matches instead of the current 125 in an elongated league phase that will replace the group stage.
Every team will play eight games, four at home and four away against different opponents. The top eight teams in the league will automatically progress to the round of 16 with the sides finishing between ninth and 24th competing in a seeded two-legged play-off. From there the competition will progress as the norm.
And the super league which is all about money would have invited the saudi team(s) to play as its all about money.
I'm not against their inclusion if they conform to some sort of financial regulation.
Absolutely, people bend their morals whenever it suits them.
I don't think this is gonna happen anyway.
Israel and their clubs, to most football fans, are pretty much a non-entity. Even if people are morally opposed to what's going on in that part of the world, I imagine most simply don't really notice that they're even in UEFA the majority of the time.
They've never qualified for a Euros, and have had just two representatives in the CL groups in the last decade (possibly more, I can't be bothered checking further), both of which had to go through qualifiers to get there, and both of which finished bottom of their group.
It would at least be a unified decision from all the top clubs, including ourselves.
Not some shite organisation who don't give a toss about anyones input.
While I understand your point of view, justifying their sub-standard participation with "they're shit and no one cares about them anyway" doesn't really hold weight. They still participated in the competition.
It's still a vastly different situation. They were kicked out of AFC, and spent two decades not being a member of any confederation, jumping between UEFA and O.F.C. for World Cup qualification, before UEFA granted them full membership in 1994.
People are well within their rights to morally oppose their participation, I was just highlighting that many probably don't have opposition because they're a bit shit and fly under the radar.
Historically there was a reason... Now though, I think there's only like 3 countries that actually boycott Israel from that part of the world (Syria, Lebanon and Iran)... so let's be honest, if Israel actually wanted to rejoin the AFC (which they've showed no signs of doing) there is probably a pathway to that. However it's obvisouly far more beneficial for them from a fiscal standpoint to part of UEFA... so that's what they'll do. Even that is now about money.
All the countries mentioned are a part of UEFA though. Unlike well, for example, Saudi Arabia.
It wouldn't surprise me if this happened, especially if the Saudis threaten some sort of LIV Golf style breakaway league. There are enough mercenaries in the game to enable Saudi money to significantly reduce the allure and quality of the current big leagues.
Wouldn't surprise me if they are already in the ear of teams like Barce and Juventus.
Wouldn't surprise me if they are already in the ear of teams like Barce and Juventus.
The globalization of club football is long overdue. It is also necessary to try to fit the South American teams into the global TV deals etc.
Besides, I don't understand being upset with a global UCL and not being upset with playing Qarabag or whatever.
Besides, I don't understand being upset with a global UCL and not being upset with playing Qarabag or whatever.
Such a crap format, 144 games to eliminate 12 teams?
Yes its awful, but its a concession to the ESL teams, to have more games.
Lets face it, if you wanted maximum viewer entertainment you'd have single leg knockout competition from the very start or at the last 16 as we did during Covid season.
These teams are in Uefa and it's a Uefa competition? Saudi Arabia are in AFC and play in AFC competitions. Pretty simply really.
I did try to explain this before. UEFA will not make a unilateral decision. The Saudi request will most likely be raised at the next ECA meeting (European Club Assoication), where all the major clubs are represented by their Club Executive.
The CEOs or their equivalents at Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern, Utd, Liverpool, Milan etc will have their say on this matter.
Seeing as the game has already sold its soul to the highest bidder, i suspect that Saudi league will get a "guest invite" for a season say 2025 to test the water.
I think the big clubs and their parasite owners will go for it, as its more money, more revenue and higher dividends / add value to the club.