The superalloy without super
Publish date 01-11-2021
In mid-April, 12 prestigious European clubs formed a new football competition, the Super League, governed by the founders: Milan, Arsenal, Atletico Madrid, Chelsea, Barcelona, Inter Milan, Juventus, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Real Madrid and Tottenham .
The reactions from the world of football were very hard, with threats of exclusion of the teams from the national championships and of the players from the national teams. Uefa, the English Football Federation and Premier League, the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) and Liga, the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) and Lega Serie A have released a joint note.
«We will remain united in our efforts to stop this cynical project, and we will consider all the measures available, at both judicial and sporting levels, in order to prevent this from happening. The persistent self-interest of a few has been going on for too long. When it is too much it is too much ». At the same time, the solidarity rebellion of the CEI arrived, through the words of Don Gionatan De Marco, director of the national office for the pastoral care of sport, leisure and tourism. «Super is who deserves it. Super is the one who takes the field and wins and, game after game, always wins one point more than the others. Super is someone who does not make sport an economic realm, but who makes sport a garden of talents accompanied by giving their best ». The project, for the moment, is over, buried by criticism, but it legitimizes a double interpretation. On the one hand, creating an elite of the rich, without promotions and relegations, and therefore without the possibility of the last in power even once facing, and beating the first, goes against democracy and the meritocracy of sport, erasing its inclusiveness. , and making it affordable for a few. On the other hand, the proceeds of this Super League would have allowed the clubs to face unsustainable budget liabilities, so that, once the prospect of the new tournament is removed, the reality of a world of football remains alive, which risks exploding, crushed by debts. . The danger remains behind the door.
NP Giugno-Luglio 2021
Carlo Nesti