MADRID — A number of current and former players from across
Europe have hit out at plans for a European Super League, with Paris St-Germain
midfielder Ander Herrera amongst the most vocal.
اضافة اعلان
On Sunday, 12 Founder Clubs announced they intended to
create and govern their own European competition, much to the incredulity of
fans and leagues across the continent.
On Monday, several players rejected the idea and Herrera -
whose French club are not among the 12 founding members - said the project
would kill the dreams of fans across the globe.
"I fell in love with popular football, with the
football of the fans, with the dream of seeing the team of my heart compete
against the greatest," the ex-Manchester United player tweeted.
"If this European Super League advances, those dreams
are over, the illusions of the fans of the teams that are not giants of being
able to win on the field competing in the best competitions will end.
"I love football and I cannot remain silent about this.
I believe in an improved Champions League, but not in the rich stealing what
the people created, which is nothing other than the most beautiful sport on the
planet."
Ex-Real Madrid, Barcelona and Inter Milan midfielder
Luis Figo
- whose former clubs have all signed up to the Super League - was equally
scathing.
"This so called 'Superleague' is anything but
'Super'," the Portuguese said.
"This greedy and callous move would spell disaster for
our grassroots, for women’s football, and the wider football community only to
serve self-interested owners, who stopped caring about their fans long ago, and
complete disregard for sporting merit. Tragic," he wrote on twitter.
Zenit St Petersburg's former Liverpool defender Dejan Lovren
and Fenerbahce's ex-Arsenal and Germany midfielder Mesut Ozil also criticized
the idea.
"Football will be in the near future on a brink of
complete collapse. Nobody is thinking about the bigger picture, only the
financial side," the Croatia defender wrote on twitter.
"I still believe we can solve this unpleasant
situation."
The Super League clubs also announced their intention to
create a parallel women's competition but Olympique Lyonnais's five-time
Champions League winner Ada Hegerberg slammed the plans as greedy.
"I grew up loving the Champions League, then I got to
play in the Women's Champions League," she said.
"Then I got to win five of them and become the all-time
leading goalscorer. It's legacy. It's the past, present, and future, so is
meritocracy in sports. Greed is not the future."
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