ESL: How should clubs be punished?
What a manic week for the footballing community…
As fans we’ve felt lied to and deceived to the highest level.
If there’s anything we’ve learnt during this past week, it’s just how out of touch football owners are with their club’s fans.
The agreement that the six premier league clubs signed would have changed European competition as we know it, and not for the better.
The overall idea and execution of the plan was emphatically poor and with Real Madrid’s Florentino Perez at the helm blurting out ridiculous quotes, seemed quite frankly delusional.
Perez has caused up raw with his comments this past week (Image via Today24)
The fans win for now, but what next?
There's been incredible effort shown by fans over the last week to win our game back and it looks like it could happen in the future.
English football fans have put up with a lot over the years and this seems to have been the last straw.
It’s thought that English clubs will look to replicate the ownership model that German clubs use; the 50+1 rule.
With the government involved, it’s a change to the English game that would not only be welcomed, but is also very achievable.
It would mean that fans would become the majority shareholders and therefore have the final say on the big decisions that the club makes.
In short, it would mean that a secret super league would theoretically never happen again.
Should the ‘Big Six’ be punished?
Probably, yes.
But UEFA have decided not to.
So, over to you, Premier League…
In all seriousness, the reactions that I have seen from English fans have been justifiable.
The majority of opinions have been shared across respective fanbases and it's fair to say that the majority of fans believe the six clubs should be punished.
Whilst some believe the clubs should be relegated for their actions, others would settle for a points deduction for the start of next season.
Personally, I disagree with both suggestions.
If you punish the clubs in this way, you’re punishing the players, staff and fans. In fact, they would be worse off.
Instead, I believe the answer is simple.
Punish the owners who were prepared to put their clubs in this situation, not the club itself.
Besides, relegation for any of the six teams involved would directly affect the remaining clubs involved in the Premier League and potentially affect England’s National Team development.
Fine the delusional and callous owners, they have the biggest part to play in this.