euro|topics - Europe's football in crisis

04/07/2009

English
Deutsch
Français

Main focus of Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Europe's football in crisis

European football is in an uproar. A few days ago violent fans in Italy caused a scandal, and just yesterday the traditional British club Manchester City was bought by Abu Dhabi United Group (ADUG), an investment firm owned by the ruling family of the United Arab Emirates. Whither goes football in Europe?

La Repubblica - Italy

La Repubblica regrets that violent fans and the lack of economic transparency are discouraging financially strong investors from buying Italian football clubs. "After the various takeovers, the British Premier League is now the richest in the world. ... Why are rich oil sheiks and Russian oligarchs not interested in Italian fooball clubs? ... Investors in Italy must fear they will not be able to control what they have bought. The clubs are held hostage to the so called organised supporters, comprising in part real criminal gangs whose acts of violence can do irreparable damage to property and society. Underlying these collective acts is an economic intent for which it is difficult to find and prosecute individual perpetrators. Added to that is the powerful role of football managers, and last but not least conflicts of interest. Italian clubs get their money almost exclusively from the rights to television broadcasts. The people conducting the negotiations often pursue their own private interests, in conflict with those of other clubs. In a word, football suffers from the same ills as the entire Italian economy." (03/09/2008)

The Guardian - United Kingdom

Commenting on the sale of Manchester City football club, The Guardian bemoans the fact that football clubs are no longer dominated by fans but by financiers: "The saga is merely the most spectacular example of an irreversible shift in the top clubs which communities and fans seem powerless to control. Last time it was Chelsea. Now it is Manchester City. Soon it will be another club, possibly Arsenal or Newcastle. It is a spectacular process and it fuels tremendous entertainment. But it is a collective delusion not to see that it is all a classic live-now-pay-later Faustian pact. For football fans, a season or two's bought glory may feel like a prize beyond price. But in the end it is all another example of the headlong sacrifice of our way of life and our planet to oil profiteers who respect neither laws nor traditions. Maybe that's life. But football fans always prefer innocence to experience." (03/09/2008)

Süddeutsche Zeitung - Germany

The daily Süddeutsche Zeitung expresses concern about the influence exerted by wealthy investors on Europe's football leagues. "In total 450 million euros were spent on Italy's transfer market and - thanks to the oil and gas reserves in Abu Dhabi and Russia - even more in England. The Spanish league and the [top German division] the Bundesliga cannot keep up with this - perhaps because they do not have the advantages of a head of government like [Italian Prime Minister] Silvio Berlusconi. He invited Chelsea's owner Roman Abramovich to lunch on the Island of Sardinia on a blue August day. ... Two days later [striker] Andre Schevchenko was signed up with AC Milan again. The Italians have been able to keep foreign investors in football at arm's length so far. ... Only Berlusconi and Inter's [the Milan football club] petrol tycoon Massimo Moratti can ... hold their own with Abramovich, but the much poorer competition doesn't want to be left behind. ... No matter what the cost." (03/09/2008)

» To the complete press review of Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Bookmark this page at