Daily Mail - 05.03.2020

90

QQQ Daily Mail, Thursday, March 5, 2020

Football

MATT

HUGHES

Chief Sports Reporter

EXCLUSIVE

U

EFA are set to esca-

late their battle

with FIFA for con-

trol of the interna-

tional calendar by

endorsing a new tourna-

ment that would compete

for attention with the Club

World Cup next year.

European football’s governing

body are in advanced talks

about backing a new Champions

League-style competition that

is the brainchild of American

promoters Relevent Sports.

T h e t o u r n a m e n t w o u l d

essentially be an expansion of the

International Champions Cup,

a pre - season competition for

Europe’s top clubs that has been

run by Relevent since 2013.

But UEFA’s endorsement would

transform a series of exhibition

games into a major tournament

and present a threat to FIFA’s

plans for a revamped Club World

Cup contested by 24 sides.

Sources familiar with a project

that has already been pitched to

several Premier League clubs

describe the proposals as game-

changing for the international

calendar.

Sportsmail has been given

details of the planned competi-

tion, which would contain new

elements including:

n Endorsement by UEFA, who

have indicated their willingness

to lend their branding and logo to

the tournament, although they

would not take responsibility for

running it.

n Participation to be determined

via a qualification process based

on domestic league position,

ra t h er t h a n by t h e c u rren t

system of invitation. It is hoped

this change would increase its

prestige.

n An eight-year agreement for

an annual event which would

initially be held in the United

States but could be staged in

Asia in subsequent years.

n A group format with pools

of three teams followed by a

knockout stage.

n A commitment by all compet-

ing clubs to field their first-choice

squads where possible.

n A 2021 start date, with Relev-

ent Sports to provide funding for

the initial competition in the

anticipation of securing lucrative

broadcast deals, which would

make it profitable.

n The possibility of expansion to

include teams from South Amer-

ica. That development became

more likely when UEFA signed a

memorandum of understanding

with South American confedera-

t i o n C o n mE Bo L p l e d g i n g

greater co-operation last month.

A working committee has been

set up comprising representa-

tives of the top clubs to establish

the finer details, such as the

number of teams and countries

to be involved.

But while it is yet to be formal-

ised, UEFA’s involvement appears

to be a significant step.

manchester United, manches-

ter City, Chelsea, Liverpool,

Tottenham and Arsenal have

p l a y e d i n t h e I n t e r n a t i o n a l

Champions Cup in recent years

and are keen to be involved, with

an annual tournament giving

them guaranteed revenue and an

opportunity to expand in key

growth markets such as the

United States and Asia.

The additional income could

also help Premier League clubs

resist the growing pressure to

expand the Champions League

by adding four extra games to the

group stage, which would put

major strain on the domestic

schedule.

The creation of a new UEFA-

branded summer competition in

2021 would put Europe’s govern-

ing body on a collision course

with FIFA, whose Club World Cup

takes place in Shanghai in June

and July next year. That tourna-

ment is scheduled to happen

every four years and feature 24

teams, but just 12 from Europe

including two from England, so

the new competition would bring

greater benefits to more clubs.

The new Club World Cup has

run into problems before it has

started, with FIFA struggling to

raise the £650million needed to

fund running costs and provide

prize money for the clubs.

A tender process launched by

FIFA last December ‘to invite

various commercial and invest-

ment proposals’ failed to bring in

any backers and last month the

world governing body appointed

American private equity firm The

Raine Group to lead a fresh

search for funding. In another

potential complication, a number

of clubs are believed to have

demanded an equity share in the

Club World Cup, which FIFA are

unwilling to grant.

much of the rivalry between

UEFA and FIFA stems from the

personal enmity between their

respective presidents, Aleksander

Ceferin and Gianni Infantino.

This ill feeling was much in

evidence at the UEFA Congress

i n A m s t e r d a m t h i s w e e k ,

with Ceferin using his keynote

speech to make a veiled attack on

Infantino’s supposed ego.

Smiles better:

Manchester United

beat Liverpool to win

the 2014 International

Champions Cup

geTT y iMages

UEFA poISEd To

bACk NEW SUMMER

CHAMpIoNS LEAGUE

++ Europe’s top clubs would meet every year in USA

starting in 2021 ++ Leading Premier League sides

support plan and are keen to be involved ++

Leko: I may not report racism again

WEST BROM winger

Jonathan Leko says he

may keep quiet if he is

racially abused again

after the handling of his

case against Kiko Casilla.

Leeds keeper Casilla was

banned for eight matches

this week after he was

found guilty by the FA of

shouting ‘you f******

n*****’ at Leko at

Charlton, where Leko was

on loan. Leko, 20 (right),

also hit out at anti-racism

charities Kick It Out and

Show Racism the Red

Card. He said: ‘By bringing

the incident to the

referee’s attention,

I was only doing what I

have been educated to

do. But I found the

hearing, at which I

was made to feel I

had done

something

wrong, extremely

stressful. It made

me question

whether I would be

prepared to go through it

all again were I on the

end of similar abuse. All I

have done is report

something that had to be

exposed for what it is —

racial abuse. It was 22

weeks between the

incident and the hearing,

during which time I had

minimal contact from the

PFA, of which I am a

member, and no

contact in the way

of support from

anti-racism

bodies such as

Kick It Out and

Show Racism the

Red Card. Support or

guidance would have

been welcome.’

Last night the PFA said:

‘We’d like to apologise to

Jonathan. We do not want

any player to feel

unsupported.’

£56m Villa park sale approved

ASTon VILLA’S sale of

Villa Park to a company

controlled by their owners

— nassef Sawiris and Wes

Edens — has finally been

approved by the Premier

League. Villa face another

challenge to comply with

profit and sustainability

rules this season, though,

after yesterday announcing

a £69million loss for 2018-19.

Following a nine-month

investigation, Premier

League officials declared

themselves comfortable

with the £56.7m nSWE

Stadium Limited paid for

Villa’s ground last may.

The importance of that

controversial deal to Villa

complying with the EFL’s

spending regulations last

season is laid bare in the

accounts lodged yesterday.

The 2018-19 accounts for

Villa’s holding company,

Recon Group UK Limited,

record a profit of £36m on

the sale of the stadium as

some of the proceeds were

used to pay a debt owed to

former owner Randy

Lerner. So, without the

sale, Villa’s losses would

have been £105m.

EFL rules prevent clubs

losing more than £39m

over a three-year period.

The Premier League’s

limits are less stringent

than the EFL’s — allowing

clubs to lose an average of

£35m as opposed to £13m a

season over a three-year

period — so Villa must not

exceed a loss of £61m over

the last three seasons. The

stadium valuation forms

one part of a submission

the club must make to the

Premier League at the end

of the season.

Relegation straight back

to the Championship

would almost certainly

necessitate player sales,

although the club are not

short of assets, such as

Jack Grealish, Tyrone

mings and John mcGinn.

EXCLUSIVE

by MATT HUGHES

and ToM CoLLoMoSSE

by ToM CoLLoMoSSE