April 30 – The man who turned English top-flight football into the world’s most lucrative league says the six English clubs who signed up for theill-fated European Super League must be sanctioned in some shape or form.
Richard Scudamore (pictured), former Premier League executive chairman, believes that the attempt to set up a breakaway league has changed the English game forever.
The plans that would have guaranteed places to 15 of Europe’s leading clubs spectacularly collapsed last week, only days after being announced.
All six Premier League clubs involved – Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal, Tottenham, Manchester City and Chelsea – withdrew from the project amid outrage from supporters, pundits and politicians.
In an interview with former Manchester United defender and now respected Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville, Scudamore, who ran the Premier League for 19 years said: “I don’t believe life will ever be the same. I think the actions of the six have altered some of the dynamic forever.”
“I would like to think that the six will get back around the table, at some point – not right away, I think there’s too much anger out there for that right now – but I think there has to be and there will be, I’m sure, some constructive dialogue where there will be some change.
“It might be self-regulatory change and yes, there might be some external regulatory change, and certainly in my time when I was there, that’s how a lot of the regulations evolved.”
When asked whether the clubs involved in the breakaway should be “punished”, Scudamore refused to be drawn on specific sanctions but spoke of “consequences” and “meaningful undertakings”.
“I’m not going to go there [on punishments], it’s not my job. I’m not in charge. (But) It just can’t happen with there being no consequences. There has to be something extracted for what they’ve done. Something has to be given.”
Scudamore said it will take time for the clubs involved to rebuild bridges with supporters as well as the ‘other 14’ Premier League clubs who were set to be sidelined by the breakaway league.
“There’s no switch that you can turn that suddenly builds back trust with these people for the fan bases and so therefore I’m afraid it is a fairly long fairly difficult road back. The fact is English football was built those clubs into what they are.
“I cannot explain why any of them thought it was a good idea. I am the person who had been telling them for years it was a crazy idea and could not happen.
“To actually suddenly break for the border and create any form of competition was a fraud in its concept. I knew the fan base would not let it happen. An elastic band has been snapped in the last week.”
The Super League debacle has sparked calls for fans to have a seat on the board of Premier League clubs and even for the English football to adopt Germany’s ‘50+1’ model of how clubs are run, with no single one majority investor allowed to be total control.
But Scudamore cautioned: “A seat on the board is difficult, isn’t it? What you can’t do, in my view, is alter the fact that somebody can own a significant percentage and those who own a significant percentage would have most of the votes.
“You can’t entirely hand ownership over but, yeah, I do believe this is now a time where clubs are going to have to look at the way they consult with their fan base.”
Contact the writer of this story at moc.l1713411527labto1713411527ofdlr1713411527owedi1713411527sni@w1713411527ahsra1713411527w.wer1713411527dna1713411527