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Gary Neville calls the idea of a European Premier League “another soccer wound” and criticized the timing of the talks during a pandemic as “obscene.”
Sky News has learned that Liverpool and Manchester United have held talks about an explosive plan involving Europe’s biggest football clubs to join a new FIFA-backed tournament that would reshape the global landscape of sport.
More than a dozen teams from England, France, Germany, Italy and Spain are in negotiations to become founding members of the competition, and the financiers are putting together a funding package of $ 6 billion (£ 4.6 billion). to help your creation.
Neville, who recently joined a group of eight calling for independent regulation of English football, has spoken passionately about the need for reform and is calling for a fairer distribution of football’s wealth.
Reacting to the proposal from the European Premier League, Neville said Sky Sports News: “The big problem I have with this is that right now, in the middle of a pandemic and when football is on its knees at so many different levels, the idea that a $ 6 billion package is being prepared to establish a new league when the lower clubs struggle to pay salaries and continue to exist.
“Football is going to eat itself soon because the fans will move away … that cannot be allowed.”
“It’s another injury for football. It doesn’t seem like the right time to talk about this.
“The leak probably doesn’t suit Manchester United or Liverpool at the moment as they are seen as the big bad bullies.
“I am in favor of the progression of football, with new competitions and new formats, but we have to take care of the fabric of the game and what it means for the communities of this country.
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“There is a spot, potentially, for a new European League and for an incredible Premier League, a fantastically competitive EFL and funded and out-of-league grassroots football. There is enough money.
“If they can raise $ 6 billion for a European league, then they can raise £ 150-200 million to save the rest of football in this country.
“There is enough wealth in the game to take care of all the key stakeholders.
“It’s almost a touch for Manchester United, Liverpool and others to be able to say: ‘There is £ 10 million for the non-league, there is a rescue package of a couple hundred million for EFL clubs.’ I understand why we’re ‘not playing the game in general, while having these discussions about $ 6 billion debt packages with JP Morgan. It’s obscene. “
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Neville fears that soccer fans will soon stop caring about the game they love and may walk away from the sport.
“Soccer is going to eat itself up soon because the fans will drift away,” Neville said.
“People who would have cried because they have missed so much going to the stadium are starting to dislike large elements of what they are really supporting. You can’t let that happen.
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“I want to see Manchester United play Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona, but I also want to make sure that Ossett Town has the funds to be able to stay alive and that the grassroots facilities are good enough for every child who wakes up and have a dream of being able to play for your country, to be able to play football safely in a good environment and with good facilities ”.
Liverpool, Manchester United, Arsenal, Tottenham, JP Morgan and Providence have declined to comment on the reports, while Key Capital Partners could not be reached for comment.
A FIFA spokesperson said: “FIFA does not wish to comment on or participate in speculation on issues that arise from time to time and, for which institutional structures and regulatory frameworks are well established at national, European and global level.”
‘Billionaire homeowners are out of control’
Kevin Miles, executive director of the Football Fans Association, has endorsed Neville’s calls for independent regulation of English football, saying that talks about English clubs’ involvement in the plans should be “the final nail in the coffin of the idea that soccer can be depended on to regulate itself “.
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Miles added: “The latest reports of plots, allegedly involving Manchester United and Liverpool, to create a European Super League, expose the myth that billionaire owners care about the pyramid of English football, or indeed about anything else. Other than your own greed These billionaire homeowners are out of control.
“Football in all its forms in the UK, from grassroots football to the top level, occupies too much of a place in our society, our culture and our communities to be threatened by an even greater concentration of wealth in the hands of the middle. dozen of great clubs.
“Now decisive action is needed to protect the game we love. The government has already promised us a fan-led review of soccer governance and regulation. That process must begin urgently before the wealthy custodians of the clubs bigger can do more damage. “
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