After that game, the Liverpool coach and his players revealed that they had not been consulted about the plans, and at least one said he did not want to take part in it. “I do not like, and hopefully that won’t happen, ”said club veteran James Milner.
Chelsea, like some of the other founding clubs, was taken aback by the strength of opposition to the proposals of its fans and the wider British public. The strength of the feeling led to a change in the heart of the team, according to a person who knew about the club’s plans.
The Guardian newspaper reported that the team was forced to retire after a riot of worried players who will not be able to participate for their national teams in global events such as the World Cup or regional tournaments such as this summer’s European Championship and the America’s Cup.
Those threats came from UEFA, which oversees football in Europe, including the Champions League, and FIFA, the global governing body in the sport.
FIFA had warned clubs in January that it will ban them and their players from international competitions if they continue with plans for a new league, and the organization’s president Gianni Infantino appears to have renewed that threat – without repetition – in an address to the European Football Congress on Tuesday in Switzerland.
“If some decide to go their own way, then they have to live with the consequences of their choice, they are responsible for their choice,” Infantino said in a speech to European football leaders in Montreux, Switzerland. “It specifically means, either you are inside or you are outside. You can’t be half and half out. This must be completely clear. ”
The threat, if FIFA should pass, carried weight. Twelve Super League clubs employ many of the world’s top players, including the core national teams of Brazil, Argentina, England, Italy, Spain, France and even the United States.
0 Comments