最近一段时间，关于建立另一个欧洲足球联赛的言论再次浮出水面，而大约在十年前，这个想法就被认为是明显行得通的。拜仁CEO兼欧洲足球会协会（ECA）主席卡尔·海茵茨·鲁梅尼格就在言论出现后表示，并不排除在未来几年创办欧洲超级足球联赛的可能性。
接着，美国体育产业企业家史蒂芬·罗斯（Stephen Ross）的代表与英超顶级俱乐部高层在伦敦进行了一次秘密会面，使得关于欧洲足球版图分裂的传言进一步发酵。尽管那些参加会面的人士都强调他们是在讨论国际冠军杯的事宜，但很多评论者都推测关于欧洲超级足球联赛的提案已经被提上议事日程。
眼下传言的起源可以被追朔到近十年前的2007年，彼时，米歇尔·普拉蒂尼刚刚被选举为欧足联主席。在此之前，顶尖的欧洲俱乐部（包括曼联和切尔西）早已于2000组成了G14联盟。G14联盟的建立是为了保护这十四个“自诩顶级”的俱乐部的利益，后来联盟的成员变为18家。而利益中最重要的，则是这些俱乐部希望从欧战中获得更大的收益，并且一旦球队中的球员参加国际足联的国家队赛事而受伤时，这些俱乐部可以获得保险赔偿。
为了就这些事情向欧足联和国际足联施压，G14一直威胁着要建立一个分离的超级联赛。而他们的施压也得到了回报，这些俱乐部在很多方面获得了收益；例如，如果球员因为参加国家队世界杯预选赛受伤不能参加俱乐部比赛，俱乐部将获得保险赔偿。尽管如此，许多欧洲足球的业内人士，尤其是普拉蒂尼，相信G14和欧洲的“顶级俱乐部们”已经变得过于强大，并且对比赛背后更广泛的利益形成了威胁。
因此，当普拉蒂尼2007年参加欧足联主席竞选时，他宣布要推进改革。他在诸多方面强调了需要改革的必要，例如重新分配欧洲冠军杯所带来的收益。尤其是，他想让欧洲足球变得更加平等，从而通过这种做法确保自己在欧洲足球小国的选票不会旁落。他也的确是这么做的，他的很多做法中的一项就是承诺增加欧洲足球小国从欧足联比赛中获得的收益。
与其同时，在认识到巴塞罗那和拜仁慕尼黑等豪门的影响力后，普拉蒂尼则展现出了他作为政治老手的一面。他成功地得到了豪门所在国家及足球相关协会的选票。之所以能做到这一点，是因为他承诺增加欧足联的营收，使得他能同时付给大小俱乐部及足协更多的钱。有意思的是，正是在最新上任的国际足联主席、那时还只是普拉蒂尼秘书长的詹尼·因凡蒂诺的帮助下，普拉蒂尼策划和推动了以上的这些措施。
为了让营收持续，普拉蒂尼同时承担起了处理另一个问题的责任——即富有的俱乐部更加富有，从而可以花费大量的资金去获得成功以便称霸欧洲俱乐部比赛。法国人非常担心某些俱乐部会迅速遭遇巨大的损失从而可能导致破产，这会影响欧洲足球的财政稳定。正是在这种背景下，欧足联财政公平法案出台，意在监测欧洲足球俱乐部的财政表现。
这一来一往，普拉蒂尼的种种举措足以导致G14解散，接着G14被欧洲俱乐部协会（ECA）取代。ECA的任务在于代表更广大俱乐部的利益并且实行民主管理。随着ECA的崛起，G14的消失，普拉蒂尼政治手腕的左右，建立欧洲超级联赛的念头迅速被平息了。
时间迅速的来到2015年，FBI突袭了正在酒店为5月份主席竞选做准备的国际足联官员。这促使了接下来一连串密集调查行动的开展，从而导致刚刚赢得连任的国际足联主席塞普·布拉特的辞职，直至最终被禁止从事足球相关活动。同时，新一届国际足联主席竞选被提前至2016年2月份举行，普拉蒂尼也宣布了他对这个职位的野心。普拉蒂尼的左右手因凡蒂诺也同时宣布将参加竞选，大概是为了掩盖他的上司被国际足联道德委员会调查的事实。
后来，普拉蒂尼也和布拉特一样，被禁止参与一切足球相关的活动，国际足联的选举准备也在没有这两位的情况下向前推进。这马上使欧足联和国际足联出现了权利真空，从而在原来被普拉蒂尼安抚的欧洲俱乐部中激起了巨大的不确定性。几乎在同一时间，ECA(主要通过鲁梅尼格)开始质疑欧洲豪门是否应该继续接受欧足联对这些俱乐部的各种限制。
在此前两位首领已经离去，一些潜在候选人深陷国际足联调查的背景下，谁将成为欧足联的新主席仍不得而知。因此，ECA对外的表态一方面是对欧足联的不确定性做出回应，另一方面是对那些觊觎主席位置的人发出警告，让他们正视这些俱乐部的诉求。尽管如此，许多ECA的会员俱乐部也对英超下赛季即将启动的新电视转播合同表示出了迫切的关注。这份合同是迄今为止在欧洲俱乐部历史上金额最大的电视转播合同，会使得英国俱乐部在与外国俱乐部对抗时拥有巨大的金元优势，这种优势可以大到连那些降级的英国俱乐部都会比欧冠冠军赚得更多。
这个无法避免的局面引起了其他欧洲俱乐部和ECA的担忧；但在尚未产生新的主席之前，欧足联会是否会应对或者如何应对新英超转播合同带来的威胁仍然不得而知。此外，随着因凡蒂诺成为国际足联主席，并承诺会从国际足联内部解决根深蒂固的管理问题，国际足联将在处理上述局势中扮演什么样的角色也变得无法确定。在这些因素的作用下，英超俱乐部代表开始探讨脱离现有比赛的做法，看起来是几乎无法避免的。给予每个人不同的观点和倾向，这样的探讨既可以看作是在挑衅，也有可能是一种防范措施。
欧洲足球更长远的担忧是来自于中国足球最近的发展；大型企业收购中超俱乐部和著名球员转会震惊了许多欧洲的相关人士。与此同时，中国足球电视转播合同价格的突然蹿升也提醒了欧洲足球关于中超俱乐部潜在的财力以及中超和中超俱乐部对广告的吸引力。中国因此对许多欧洲俱乐部和管理机构形成了竞争威胁；而随后出现的关于在亚洲举办联赛的讨论也是欧洲足球对中国发展感到威胁的佐证。
直到因凡蒂诺对外公开他治理国际足联的策略，直到欧足联拥有一位新的主席，直到英超新的电视转播合同生效，直到中国足球所带来的实质威胁变得明显，成立欧洲超级联赛的传言就不会平息。有人怀疑这种状况还要持续一段时间，而关于建立欧洲超级足球联赛的言论也很有可能会成为未来几年最频繁出现的话题之一。事实也确实如此，这种情况可能会持续，直到欧洲的顶级俱乐部可以获得更加稳定的经营环境，直到权力真空的欧足联等各方面拿出的更多政治手段来。
英文原文：
Recent weeks have seen the possibility of a European football breakaway league reappear almost a decade after the issue was last thought to be a distinct possibility. Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, chairman of the European Club Association and Bayern Munich CEO, recently said he is not ruling out a potential European Super League in the near future.
Further fuelling rumours of a split in European football, American sports entrepreneur Stephen Ross’ representatives have met officials from the English Premier League’s leading clubs in London. Although those involved in the meeting have stressed that they were discussing the International Champions Cup, many industry commentators have speculated discussions about a breakaway were on the agenda.
The origins of current rumours can be traced back nearly 10 years ago to the election of Michel Platini as UEFA president in 2007. Prior to this election, the leading European clubs (including the likes of Manchester United and Chelsea) had formed the G14 in 2000. The G14 was intended to safeguard the interests of these 14 self-appointed top clubs, which later became 18 clubs. Among other things, the clubs wanted a greater share of revenues from European competitions and insurance pay-outs for players involved in FIFA sanctioned national team games.
In order to press both UEFA and FIFA on these matters, the G14 constantly emphasised the threat of a breakaway super league. Their pressure paid-off, the top clubs were successful in several ways; for example, insurance arrangements are now in place for players who might be injured playing in a World Cup qualifying game and who therefore miss games for their clubs. However, many in European football, most notably Platini, believed the G14 and the continent’s ‘top clubs’ had become too powerful and were threatening the broader interests of the game.
Hence, when Platini stood for election as UEFA president in 2007, his manifesto advocated reform. He stressed the need for changes to the way in which, for example, revenues from the Champions League would be allocated to clubs. In particular, he wanted greater equality across European football, and therefore appealed to smaller nations to secure their votes. He did so by, amongst other things, promising to increase their revenue allocations from UEFA competitions.
At the same time, recognising that the likes of Barcelona and Bayern Munich were the jewels in the crown of European football, Platini also proved to be a highly adept politician. He successfully courted the vote of national associations representing the nations in which these bigger clubs were located. He did so by promising to grow UEFA’s revenues, thus enabling him both to pay-out more to bigger and smaller clubs and associations. Interestingly, he formulated and pursued this agenda under the careful guidance of his General Secretary, Gianni Infantino – the recently elected new FIFA president.
In building revenue streams, Platini also undertook to address the issue of richer clubs getting richer and dominating European club competitions by spending large amounts of money in order to succeed. The Frenchman was also anxious to ensure the financial sustainability of European football, as he was concerned that some clubs were rapidly heading towards massive losses and possible bankruptcy. This resulted in UEFA Financial Fair Play regulations, measures designed to moderate the financial performance of football clubs across Europe.
In combination, Platini’s package of initiatives was a sufficient condition for the G14 to dismantle, which in turn was replaced by the European Clubs Association (ECA). The ECA’s remit was to represent a much broader base of clubs and to build democratic governance. With the emergence of the ECA, the disappearance of the G14, and underpinned by Platini’s smart politicking, the pressure for a breakaway European Super League rapidly subsided.
Fast forward to 2015, and there were FBI raids on a hotel in which FIFA officials were staying ahead of the organisation’s presidential elections in May. This prompted a flurry of intense investigative activity which ultimately resulted in newly re-elected president Sepp Blatter initially resigning from the position and then, ultimately, him being banned from football. In the meantime, a new FIFA presidential election was called for February 2016, with Michel Platini announcing his intention to be a candidate. At the same time, Platini’s right-hand man Infantino also announced his candidature, probably as a political move intended to cover for his boss who was being investigated by FIFA’s Ethics Committee.
Subsequently, Platini joined Blatter in being banned from football and the FIFA presidential election went ahead without them. This immediately created a power vacuum at the top of both UEFA and FIFA, engendered a great deal of uncertainty among the European clubs which had earlier been placated by Platini Almost immediately, the ECA (most notably through Rummenigge) began to question whether or not Europe’s leading clubs could continue accepting the constraints imposed upon them by the likes of UEFA.
It remains unclear who will become UEFA’s new president now that the organisation’s two leading officials are no longer around and some of their potential replacements have also been adversely caught-up in investigations into FIFA. The ECA’s public posturing is therefore, in part, a response to UEFA uncertainty and a warning to potential incumbents that they need to take clubs seriously. However, many of the ECA’s clubs are also acutely aware that the English Premier League’s (EPL) new television contract will start at the beginning of next season. This deal is the biggest in European football club history and will result in English teams having a significant financial advantage over their European rivals. So great will this advantage become that even teams relegated from the EPL are likely to earn more than the team that wins the UEFA Champions League.
This inevitably concerns other European clubs and the ECA itself; but with no president confirmed in office at UEFA, it is unclear if or how the governing body will respond to the threats posed by the EPL’s new television deal. Furthermore, with Gianni Infantino now in office as FIFA president and committed to addressing deep-rooted governance problems within the world governing body, it is unclear what role FIFA might take in influencing or moderating such developments. With these factors in mind, it therefore seemed almost inevitable that club representatives from the EPL would therefore start to discuss breaking away from existing competitions. Depending upon your view, such discussions are either a provocative or a precautionary measure.
A further consideration for European’s has been recent developments in China; club acquisitions and high profile player transfers have rather caught many in Europe by surprise. At the same time, a sudden rise in the value of broadcasting contracts for Chinese football has alerted Europeans to the potential financial power and general commercial appeal of the Super League and its clubs. China has therefore rapidly become a competitive threat for some European clubs and governing bodies; subsequent discussions about playing breakaway league games in Asian cities is clear evidence of the Chinese threat perceived by some in European football.
Until Gianni Infantino makes public his strategy for FIFA, until UEFA has a new president, until the ramifications of the EPL’s new television deal, and until the actual threats posed by China all become apparent, rumours about a European Super League will not subside. One suspects that there is some way to go yet and that this issue could well dominant football discussions for the next couple of years. Indeed, until the Europe’s leading football clubs have more certainty in their operating environments then expect much more political manoeuvring by all of the organisations involved in the continent’s current vacuum.
作者简介：西蒙·查德威克，任教于英国索尔福德大学，被聘为“92班“教授，教授“体育企业”，“体育战略”等课程。同时他还担任2022卡塔尔世界杯研究项目主任。与西蒙·查德威克教授合作过的世界顶级体育组织包括巴塞罗那足球俱乐部、欧足联、德国足球甲级联赛、阿迪达斯、米其林、国际网球联合会、德勤和Repucom。
Simon Chadwick is 'Class of 92' Professor of Sports Enterprise at Salford University Manchester and Director of Research for the 2022 Qatar World Cup. He has worked with many of the world's leading sports organisations including FC Barcelona, UEFA, the Bundesliga, Adidas, Michelin Motorsport, the International Tennis Federation, Deloitte and Repucom.
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声明：配图除署名外均来自网络。本文为懒熊体育原创或编译，未经同意不得转载或引用。
