Congratulations To The Michigan Wolverines

Congratulations to the Michigan Wolverines as the College Football National Champions this season.  I said last week in my Football Friday rant that I thought the game would be a close one; it was not.  By the middle of the second quarter, it was clear that Washington could not stop Michigan’s running attack and that the only way Washington stood a chance in the game was for Michigan to make multiple errors that handed the game to Washington.  In addition to dominating on offense, the Michigan defense caused the normally accurate Michael Penix, Jr. to have a terrible game going 27 of 51 for 255 yards with 1 TD and 2 INTs.  Michigan won by three touchdowns last night, but the game was not nearly that close.

Frans Beckenbauer died last weekend at the age of 78.  He was one of the greatest footballers of all time; in Germany he was referred to as “Der Kaiser”.  As a player, he had the stature of a current day Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo; even though he was a defender for much of his career, he was a two-time winner of the Ballon d’Or given to the player deemed the best in Europe over the previous year.  After his playing days were over, he was an important figure in the off-field world of futbol.

• He was a team manager in the Bundesliga and for the West German National Team.
• He was the lead organizer for Germany’s hosting of the World Cup in 2006.

Rest in peace, Frans Beckenbauer.

And speaking of European soccer – obliquely – recall that there was an attempt several years ago by some of the top teams in various top leagues in Europe to form a “Super League” of top-shelf football clubs.  FIFA and UEFA were naturally opposed to such an idea and used the threat of banishment from any FIFA or UEFA competition for teams and players to seemingly put that idea on ice.  However, two clubs – – Barcelona and Real Madrid – – from the Spanish La Liga decided to take this to court in the European Union.

I have said here many times that I am not an attorney.  Usually, I make that statement when I am about to comment on or discuss something ongoing in a US court to make it clear that whatever I say must be taken with a grain of salt.  In this case, I am about to comment on a legal issue heard by the European Court of Justice which makes my level of ignorance all the greater.  In fact, until I read about this decision, I did not know there was such a thing as the European Court of Justice.  However, here is my understanding of what the Court decided:

• FIFA and UEFA specifically cannot ban teams or players from engaging in a European Super League should such an entity come into existence.
• The European Court of Justice decided that such banishment or the threat of banishment violated European Union laws concerning competition in various industries and commercial markets.

One part of the Court’s written decision seems unambiguous to me:

“The FIFA and UEFA rules making any new interclub football project subject to their prior approval, such as the Super League, and prohibiting clubs and players from playing in those competitions, are unlawful.”

I have no idea if this court’s rulings can be appealed or if this is the final word on the legality of a European Super League but the organizers of such an entity have not wasted any time.  Organizers have unveiled a plan for a 64-team entity to exist in three levels of play.

• The Star League and the Gold League would each have 16 teams.
• The Blue League would consist of 32 teams.
• Teams would play matches in a Group Stage and then in a knockout phase which would determine league champions with promotions and relegations as is common in various European soccer leagues.

Don’t hold me to this, but I believe that relegation from the lowest league – – the Blue League – – would allow teams not in the original 64 teams to become part of the European Super League structure.

The organizers of this enterprise cannot be accused of lack of imagination.  They suggest the creation of a major streaming platform that would be free to anyone with Internet access so that any soccer fan anywhere in the world could see each and every European Super League game.  The idea is that with such a broad reach for its potential audience, the streaming platform could generate revenues through a variety of mechanisms to include advertising, premium access subscriptions and sponsorships.

As I understand it, this ruling does not penalize FIFA or UEFA in the sense that it forbids either or both entities from creating competitions within their orbit that might compete with or even overshadow European Super League events.  So, there could still be opposition and impediments for the ESL over the next several years as the new league goes through a gestation period.  The ESL has not set a specific start date for its competition(s) or even a timeline that would have benchmarks for league viability except to say that the organizers believe that the ESL will be fully operational “well before 2030”.  Stay tuned …

Finally, to begin to understand the passion and devotion of European soccer fans, let me close here with these words from Bill Shankly the former manager of Liverpool Football Club:

“Some people believe football is a matter of life and death.  I’m very disappointed with that attitude.  I can assure you it is much, much more important than that.”

But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………