Brexit silver lining?
A champagne toast
GLOBAL FOOTBALL INTELLIGENCE
Asif surviving COVID-19werenot
sufficient, British club football is about to
confront a further challenge: Brexit – an
issue pushed into the shadows by the
never-ending impact of the pandemic.
Yet there may be a silver lining amid
the clouds of confusion. For international
competition, Brexit is irrelevant. After all,
only half the 55-strong membership of
UEFA are European Union countries. So
that means no change as far as World
Cup, European Championship, Nations
League, Champions League and Europa
League are concerned.
Other European leagues and clubs
hope the consequences of Brexit will
curb the Premier League’s attraction to
players and broadcasters. They hope to
cream off a slice of the financial action.
They will hope in vain. The Premier
League is likely to maintain its primacy.
Indeed, it could become even richer
and more powerful. After all, the removal
of EU business controls will only make it
easier for Arab, Chinese and American
investors to throw ever more zillions of
dollars at the English game.
That is one very welcome prospect at
the end of the COVID-19 crisis tunnel.Tradition is football’s foundation. Hence
good to see Reims back in Europe even
if their Europa League foray was ended
swiftly by Hungary’s Fehervar.
Reims’ last European appearance
had been their1963 defeat by
Feyenoord in the quarter-finals of
the European Cup, where they were
runners-up in1956 and1959 to Real
Madrid. Their return duly prompted
a “welcome back” message from
Real president Florentino Perez.- Subsequently it emerged that
a further secret meeting had been
held between Lauber and Infantino,
not in either man’s office, but in the
Schweizerhof hotel in Bern.
Infantino’s enemies and the media
leaped on the revelations. Lauber had
been overseeing more than 20 FIFA
case files since 2015. Why should he
compromise the process by meeting
Infantino? Why were the meetings
secret? What was there to hide?
Worse, Lauber claimed he could
not remember meetings which were
not noted in his official diary. Neither he
nor Infantino could remember any detail
of the discussions. Infantino, on being
pushed, insisted that meeting Lauber to
discuss cases in which FIFA considered
itself a victim of corrupt practices had
been perfectly logical and that the
fuss was “absurd.”
But pressure was building. Formal
complaints against Lauber and Infantino
were registered anonymously with
the judiciary in Bern and an inquiry
launched. Special prosecutor Stefan
Keller duly opened a criminal
investigation into Infantino’s actions
and proposed similar for Lauber.
In the past, FIFA’s response to legal
trouble has been to deny wrongdoing,
refuse further comment and sit out the
storm. Not this time. An aggressive
response has been led by Scottish
deputy secretary-general Alasdair Bell.
Keller’s qualifications and experience
have been belittled in character-
assassinating leaks to local media.
It’s a who-dun-it with an unusual
twist: the “who” are known. It’s what
they “dun” which is unknown. That is
the conundrum for Keller in seeking
answers: innuendo is not enough.
If Lauber and Infantino maintain their
amnesiac approach and no damning
paperwork is uncovered, then FIFA’s
president will live to fight another day.
But a formal charge would bring him
crashing down. He dare not continue
to sail so close to the wind.
Maybe it’s not too late, though he
may resent the source, to heed Blatter’s
advice to listen and learn...not least
from his own mistakes. To misquote
William Congreve: manage at haste,
repent at leisure.
Premier League...Is English football set for
more non-European investment post-Brexit?EDDIE NKETIAH
Arsenal striker
Nketiah is now the
England U21s all-
time top scorer with
14 goals in12 games,
beating Alan Shearer
and FrancisJeffers’
record of13.EUGENIE
LE SOMMER
In September,
Le Sommer scored
twice against North
Macedonia to reach
82 international
goals, becoming
thehighest-scoring
France player
of all time.NICO LODEIRO
The classy Seattle
Sounders attacking
midfielder has
taken14 penalties
this season, and
scored every single
one of them – a
new MLS record.ROMA
After listing
23-year-old
Amadou Diawara
in the Under-
section of their
squad against
Verona, the Italians
were penalised with
a 3-0 defeat.JOSEP MARIA
BARTOMEU
Barcelona’s
presidential elections
could be brought
forward after a vote
of no confidence was
submitted against the
current incumbent,
Bartomeu.ARJEN ROBBEN
The legendary
winger’s eagerly
anticipated return to
Eredivisie action with
Groningen lasted
exactly 30 minutes
before being ended
by a groin injury.