Football gets a super Kerry Packer pass

Kerry Packer must be chuckling from the Great Seat in the Sky. On Sunday, when new plans of a European Super League (ESL) were announced, many — especially from the island-nation that hosts the most-followed football league — went bonkers. Of the 12 biggest football clubs that have joined ESL, six are English. If this was a bunch of dogsbodies joining a parallel tournament, no one would have howled. In fact, they would have applauded Unfanchester United having their own sideshow. This is not even like IPL or ISL, both of which pay their homage’n’hafta to their respective motherships, BCCI and AIFF. In the case of ESL, football’s phattest are cocking a snook at Fifa and Uefa in true Packer style.

Much righteous noises are being made — how can an upstart tournament uproot star clubs from their fan base and tradition? Two easy answers: ‘national’ or ‘local’ affiliations are only one ingredient in a cauldron of football allegiance. So, the skies won’t fall if Real Madrid doesn’t play in La Liga or Arsenal opts out of Premier League. Fans in Mumbai or Hong Kong, vocal as they come as any ‘local’, just want to see their clubs play against the best. And, second easy answer: money attracts talent. A fair warning to any organisation dangling a belt to tighten in these innovative, all-is-fair-in-Covid-and-downsize days.