The damage isn’t done though. Reputationally maybe but that’s not real damage and by pulling out now City can be the first domino falling and get the whole thing aborted.
I dont really want them to back down as such.
UEFA is shit, the champions league is shit, and the new format is 10x worse. When clubs are struggling for money its completely acceptable that the clubs wish to break off from UEFA who skim Billions off the top for not much more than basic administration.
I would rather City and Chelsea and anyone else getting twitchy after hearing the backlash used being in the tent to change the new competition to something everyone else can just about agree with.
Protect yourself for a few years for going out on a limb to break away from UEFA, that's tolerable, but don't make it 100% permanent. Give yourself 5 or 10 years immunity and you'd earn so much money it would effectively be permanent anyway.
Maybe copy some existing leagues where if you finish at the bottom x years in a row there's a play off with the most successful nonfounding member. Make a decent feeder system for qualifiers to come in - maybe winning the CL gets you 5 years membership and the qualified places alternate like that. Make it an official legal position that clubs never move location, because that's something people are genuinely worried about.
European football needs change, there's so many things they could get away with that benefit them whilst also creating something better than UEFAs shit show.
This is partly what I'm expecting. They have been so vague with the actual substance that I think they are going to let everyone assume the worst case scenarios and then make a series of "concessions" to make it palatable and end up where they wanted to anyway.
But they need to actually start talking soon.
