Louis Posted March 13, 2013 Report Share Posted March 13, 2013 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/9926412/Qatars-plans-for-Dream-Football-League-could-see-English-clubs-offered-175m-to-coampete.html Clubs could be paid £175m to take part.. The world’s leading football clubs are to be offered enormous financial inducements to participate in a 24-team tournament every two years in Qatar and neighbouring Gulf states, The Times has learnt. Backed by the Qatari royal family, the self-styled “Dream Football League” (DFL) will release plans next month for a new club tournament that it hopes to establish as a rival to the Champions League and the Club World Cup. The move, the latest stage of Qatar’s bid to establish itself as a dominant player in world football, represents a clear threat to the existing powerbases of Fifa, football’s world governing body, and Uefa, its European counterpart. It remains to be seen which, if any, Barclays Premier League clubs will sign up for the project, but DFL is prepared to offer elite clubs such as Barcelona and Manchester United an astonishing €200 million (about £175 million) per two-year cycle in an attempt to gain support. Its plan is to have four of England’s most prestigious clubs among 16 “permanent” DFL members, with a further eight global clubs competing on an invitational basis. The project is being driven from Doha and Paris after the recent takeover of Paris Saint-Germain by Qatar Sports Investment (QSI). Qatar is eager to win the full support of the increasingly influential European Club Association (ECA), which is involved in a continuing power struggle with Uefa and Fifa, but the recent ECA general assembly, held in Doha, featured a stern warning from Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, the chairman, to PSG about the French club’s aggressive attempts to win power and influence among the game’s elite. If successful, the idea — which would feature the first tournament held across the region in the summer of 2015 — would change the face of world football, not least in widening the gap between the richest clubs and the rest. The sums under discussion would dwarf those in the Champions League, which has an annual prize fund of £595 million. Chelsea won £47.3 million as European champions last season. DFL’s idea is that the sums involved would lead clubs to make the tournament their top priority, even ahead of the Champions League and their domestic leagues, particularly in an era in which additional revenue will help clubs such as PSG and Manchester City, respectively owned by sovereign wealth funds in Qatar and Abu Dhabi, to overcome Uefa’s new “financial fair play” regulations. The idea of holding the tournament in the summer is a key part of Qatar’s strategy. Having encountered widespread objections to its controversial plans to host the 2022 World Cup finals in summer, when temperatures soar beyond 40C (104F), Qatar aims to demonstrate that it can, with the backing of the most powerful clubs, overcome concerns about player and spectator safety with the use of air conditioning not just in the stadiums but throughout all host cities. DFL plans to hold the tournament not only in Qatar but in six cities across the Gulf, with venues in Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and possibly Saudi Arabia. Officials from Uefa and the Premier League declined to comment on the DFL proposals last night. The ECA did not respond to inquiries. Leading figures from Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City and Manchester United also declined to respond, although some privately expressed full support for the existing competition in club football while saying that they had not heard of the DFL proposals. The existing European club competition structure has been far more stable since Uefa reacted to the “Media Partners” breakaway league threat of the 1990s by expanding the Champions League, but there have been renewed discussions in recent years about the idea of creating a competition whereby the elite clubs play each other more often than the present arrangements allow. Florentino Pérez, the Real Madrid president, said in 2009 that it was time to push for “a new European super league, which guarantees that the best always play the best, which does not happen in the Champions League”. At very least, it is possible that there will be a desire among the clubs to use the interest from Qatar to push for changes to the existing Champions League and Europa League structure and to the financial rewards that are involved. But in Qatar they are serious about the DFL proposal. As one source close to the project said: “These people have already shown that, if they want something to happen, they will throw enough money at it to make it happen. And the football industry has shown that everything can be bought for the right price.” I've just found it's a hoax from a French satirical website and The Times have run it as a proper story and it's been copied by other papers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoo Posted March 13, 2013 Report Share Posted March 13, 2013 It would be good to see someone else competing for the top prize instead of the usual billionares but this will only make the game worse. Teams like Manchester City will get more rich and it will be even harder for teams to break into the top four. I also don't understand how this is going to work with the FairPlay financial side of things. Crazy idea from the nobheads in Qatar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fearthainn Posted March 13, 2013 Report Share Posted March 13, 2013 Qatar really are intent on helping destroy football. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avinalaff Posted March 13, 2013 Report Share Posted March 13, 2013 Did either of you two read what Louis wrote? IT WAS A HOAX ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoo Posted March 13, 2013 Report Share Posted March 13, 2013 It's only just been edited as a hoax, when I read the article nobody knew. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fearthainn Posted March 13, 2013 Report Share Posted March 13, 2013 I think he edited it later? Anyway glad it's not true. Zoo 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoo Posted March 13, 2013 Report Share Posted March 13, 2013 I think he edited it later? Anyway glad it's not true. Me too, although it's so believable. This is something that those mad bastards in Qater would do. Fearthainn 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Louis Posted March 13, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2013 The journalist who wrote it believes it's true, he says more details will be made public next month. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoo Posted March 13, 2013 Report Share Posted March 13, 2013 Hopefully he's just trying to hide his blushes at reporting a hoax story as factual. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Romey 1878 Posted March 14, 2013 Report Share Posted March 14, 2013 http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2013/mar/13/qatari-deny-dream-football-league Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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