Olsson: G14 are creating smokescreen
UEFA’s chief executive Lars-Christer Olsson has claimed the G14 group of top Europe clubs still harbour ambitions of breaking away from the Champions League.
Olsson believes that G14’s insistence they are not interested in forming a rival to the Champions League is “a smokescreen“.
And he warned that football should take G14’s claims for more than €1bn in compensation “very seriously“.
In a column for PA Sport, Olsson said: “G14 are always insisting they are not going to form a breakaway competition from the Champions League but nevertheless they have changed their statutes to say that they can now organise their own competitions.
“I believe they are creating a smokescreen to hide their real ambitions and we should not underestimate that some of their clubs would like an alternative competition, perhaps similar to the NFL franchise in the USA with guaranteed participation.
“They can do so of course if they want to – but it means they would not be allowed to take part in the domestic competitions organised by their national associations.”
G14, which includes Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool, have lodged a claim for €860m compensation from FIFA in a court case in Charleroi, Belgium.
They are also demanding that a €200m share of FIFA’s profits from the World Cup be paid to them for allowing their players to appear in the finals.
Olsson added: “I tend to judge people on what they do and not so much what they say. So if you have a claim from the G14 clubs, written down on paper, in a court case in Charleroi demanding €860m for compensation for players released for international duty then I take that very seriously.
“G14 have tried to distance themselves from that figure but they have not withdrawn that claim from the court.
“Now we hear they are asking for another €200m from FIFA for payment for players in the World Cup. That takes their total claim to more than 1billion euros and this is a challenge that everyone in football should take seriously.
“The 18 clubs in G14 want more money. I believe the split in the money at the moment is right. The clubs get the money from the club competitions and the associations from the finals of the World Cup and the European Championships.”
Yesterday, Manchester United’s chief executive David Gill said the clubs did not expect to have all the wages reimbursed but that FIFA should share some of the spoils of the World Cup.
Gill said: “We believe that our players are the assets providing the income. This World Cup will be a fantastic event and produce huge, huge profits and the belief of the clubs is that the assets are being provided for free by the clubs.
“At the moment we have to provide them for free at the request of the countries. Manchester United’s view is not that there should be a pound-for-pound reimbursement but we believe there should be a slice of that income that should be distributed to the clubs of participating players on an equal basis.”
