Uefa chief appeals to PM for help (1 Viewer)

[Zé Tahir]

Uefa chief appeals to PM for help

Uefa president Michel Platini has written to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown to appeal for his help in safeguarding the future of football.

"A serious threat hangs over the development of European football: the malign and ever-present influence of money," wrote Platini in his letter.

"We may be entering an era in which financial profit alone will be the measure of sporting success."

The letter comes as foreign ownership in the Premier League is increasing.

Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov has recently increased his stake in Arsenal, while Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool, Aston Villa, Portsmouth, Manchester City and West Ham have all been taken over by foreign owners in recent years.

Plus, the Premier League is set for a windfall of £2.7bn from its new television deals over the next three seasons.

Platini sent the letter to all European leaders - and is calling on governments to accept their role as "the last hope for a healthy and balanced future of European football".

He added: "Money has always been in sport and football has had a professional component for 150 years.

"But money has never been the ultimate objective of football: the main purpose has always been to win trophies."

Platini was elected president in January and has since questioned the role of agents, spoken out against racism and violence in the European game and appealed for an increase in home-grown talent.

Additionally, the former France midfielder has proposed that countries reserve one of their Champions League places for the winners of their national cup competition.

He has also called for the G14 to disband and drop a number of lawsuits it is supporting.

The G14 represents 18 European clubs, with Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United all current members.

Platini wants the G14 to air their grievances through a new body - the Professional Football Strategy Council.

Story from BBC SPORT:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/sport2/hi/football/europe/7002280.stm

Published: 2007/09/19 09:53:25 GMT


What you think? Please discuss

 

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[Boudz]

Platini is a person who is truly passionate about the game and I have full confidence in him.
I have a fear that fans of countries that have been neglected in the CL like many eastern European countries will lose interest in the CL and it will end of becoming an elite member competition.

 

[Zé Tahir]

I applaud his concern but it might be a bit too late. But I was reading something that made me curious. Someone had commented on this article and he/she said that the Premier League should learn from the mistakes of Serie A. Has something similar to what's happening there happened to Serie A?

 

[sateeh]

well other members here could have better memories of the past years. But Serie A always had club owners with agendas that deviated from football and almost drove their clubs to bankruptcy in the process.
Ppl like the past presidents of Lazio and Fiorentina who thought commercial over football and just left their clubs in misery ( Cragnotii and Cecchi Gori i think were there names)

And i think thats the reference, as these people thought about money first and look where their clubs ended up.Something that a lot of the foreign investors in the EPL do, and if it doesn't pay off they would just leave. Also if am not mistaken the clubs will not be protected after that with regards to debts and financial issues.

 

[Red]

I don't know what Platini think the Prime Minister can do about it, sine there are FIFA rules to stop governments interfering with football.

I appreciate his concerns though.

 

[Rami]

Ya because the Brits are our saviors....

 

[AngelaL]

I might applaud Platini's attempt, and I don't doubt his concerns, but I don't believe Greedy Gordon gives a fig!

 

[Red]

Ya because the Brits are our saviors....

Please differentiate between England and Scotland.

It is England that think they can still try to run the world. :faq2:

 

[Ahmed]

not only football now every sport is governed by the financial risk/rewards

 

[Zé Tahir]

I don't know what Platini think the Prime Minister can do about it, sine there are FIFA rules to stop governments interfering with football.

I appreciate his concerns though.

I'm sure Platini is not aware of this simple fact

 

[mikhail]

Please differentiate between England and Scotland.

It is England that think they can still try to run the world. :faq2:

And the British parliament sets the laws of the country the English FA operates in.

I have no confidence in Platini. I think he's a nutter, obsessed with crippling the big clubs and removing tackling from the game entirely.

 

[Rami]

Please differentiate between England and Scotland.

It is England that think they can still try to run the world. :faq2:

Plus Gordon Brown is the PM of Britain

 

[swag]

Platini has rightful concerns. But the cat is out of the bag. The question now is how to minimize the damages.

All this American ownership of EPL clubs has only made the almost exclusionary English bias towards football far worse here, for example. Money influences power and media.

It makes me wonder whether the football coverage I'm seeing is because it's newsworthy or if it's paid for as part of a club owner's profit motives. Right now it's a little of both. :frown:

 

[AngelaL]

Plus Gordon Brown is the PM of Britain

And he is Scottish, but he doesn't give a fig about football, so he'll do nothing!

 

[Oggy]

Like many of you said, Platini have all reasons to be concerned but it is a little bit too late for that.

For me funny thing is how someone like Shinawatra (or whatever his name is) is allowed to buy a club...

 

[JCK]

MP appeals to PM