The End of the Football Dictatorship?

The last couple of years have seen a considerablemembers. In hindsight, it's a blessing that they
reduction in the control massively rich footballdidn't go through with it, and a lot of it was due
clubs have on the way football is run in Europeto the strong opposition voiced by UEFA and
and in the rest of the world. The good news isFIFA. It's also no wonder that throughout G14's
that this has meant that many of football valuesexistence, the gulf between the richest clubs and
have either come back or been reinforced andpoorest clubs increased significantly.
this largely thanks to FIFA and UEFA taking aClearly, G14 was not an organisation promoting
stand. The bad news is there is still much left tofootball's interests, and its disbandment in January
be desired. Let's go through the 2 big changes2008 means that these rich clubs have lost an
that have occurred since.influential, or not scary, vehicle in their quest for
The first big change occurred in 2003, when UEFAworld domination.
eliminated for once, and for all, the second groupThe abolition of the second group stage and the
stage of the UEFA Champions League. Put simply,G14 group of clubs have been largely positive for
the second group stage had been created tothe way football is run in that football's interests,
maximise the amount of revenue thatrather than club's self-interests have come back
participating clubs could get. More games meantto the forefront. FIFA has lived up to its slogan of
more money. But more games also meant more"For The Good of the Game" and the signs are
player burnouts. It was an exercise in which thethat it will continue to wrestle control from clubs.
main losers were the players themselves.The proposed '6+5 rule' will be another positive
The other loser was the football fan. 2 groupdevelopment for football if it comes through and
stages simply meant that we had to go throughgets implemented in Europe. My next article will
watching each team play 12 games over a coupleclosely analyse the pros and cons of such a rule if
of months where there would never be ait comes to fruition.
do-or-die situation. It was ultimately boring and aHowever, despite the advances made in the last
great shame because the greatness and prestigecouple of years, there is still much left to be
of the European Cup (as it was called before) haddesired. The difference between rich and poor
been built upon magnificent, nerve-wreckingdoes not seem to be closing, meaning that even
knockout games. Going through 2 group stagessmall clubs that consistently get full houses are
before reaching the knockout meant that thestruggling to break even. This is the sad reality of
spirit of the European Cup was slowly dying awaythose that have got it all and those that have
in the face of money hungry clubs.barely anything. The solution to this problem is not
The second big change that has taken place in theeasy, however I will outline some potential
last couple of years is the disbandment of thesolutions in future articles.
G14 group of clubs. G14 was created in 2000 byLastly, the one facet that has truly disappeared
the biggest, richest and hence most powerfulfrom football is club loyalty. Nowadays, it is rare
clubs in Europe Its intention was to promote theto find a player that spends his entire career at a
interests of its members in the face of politicalsingle club. Paolo Maldini is a rarity and he may well
bodies such as FIFA and UEFA.be the last. The lure of money is too much for
However, the interests of G14 rarely, if ever,players, especially younger players such as
were in accordance with what was best for theCristiano Ronaldo who are ruled by money and
game. The one proposal that was always a talkingarrogance rather than love and loyalty. One
point was the possible formation of the Europeanwonders where football may be headed in the
league which would have been exclusively for G14next decade if this continues.