Professional football has and always will be driven by money. At the end of the day since the advent of live football on TV, Utd, Real and Barca have gained more fans worldwide than the rest combined. These three clubs have pushed this out of self interest. They're up to their eyeballs in debt, and expediting these plans is a way out. By doing this, they finally seize control of football forever. If the Der Bilt article on 05 Nov 18 is anything to go by, this has been planned for a long time now. These 3 clubs will have the controlling stake and a lions share of the profits.
Each participant will get €500m for playing in it each year for 15-20 years, plus a joining fee of €200-300m. No club in the world can turn that down out of principle.
From a purely business perspective, if offered the chance to join, City have to accept. By default the UCL collapses immediately, and is replaced by the ESL, if City don't join as founders they are effectively excluding themselves permanently. It's hard to see any of the other 5 annual places being offered to an English club, and that place City rejected could easily be offered to Everton, Villa, Ajax, Benfica or any other club.
So after the investment made by SM, in City and the CFG, do any of us seriously think he is going to waste that opportunity and say no? I think it's unfair to have a go at him, especially after what he has done to/for our club. Would any other City owner in the past have rejected it?
FIFA have threatened to ban players from International football, but this is a hollow threat. The FIFA video game is their biggest money spinner and it includes every player in the world, as a kid playing these games would you choose a game from the ESL or from FIFA minus ESL teams and players?
UEFAs alternative would give Utd, Liverpool etc permanent entry to the revamped UCL, so this sort of thing was happening anyhow albeit at a slower pace.
I was firmly against the Super League in England every time it was mooted in the late 80s / early 90s, and hated the EPL when it was formed on the back of that. Over the years I've got used to the EPL but still think it's wrong. However;
- Can any of us say the old Football League was better than the Premier League? not really.
- Can any of us say the old European Cup was better than the Champions League we have now? not really.
Regardless, I know we (the fans of all the clubs involved) will all get used to it, dislike it, but move on and continue going. A small number of us will say enough is enough, but not enough to change what's just happened. That's just how it is.
They know that, and that's why they've done it.