The brand new CEO of the corporate selling the Tremendous League, German businessman Bernd Reichart, says European soccer should maintain talks to reshape its future and warns it’s “turning into unsustainable” beneath the present system.
Reichart, the 48-year-old former boss of the RTL media group in Germany, was on Wednesday appointed head of A22 Sports activities Administration.
“European soccer wants an open and trustworthy dialogue about its future,” Reichart informed AFP, 18 months on from the botched try at a breakaway 12-team Tremendous League designed to supplant the UEFA Champions League.
“Soccer is going through issues which received’t resolve on their very own,” he mentioned.
“European soccer is shedding its undisputed management in international sports activities. European membership soccer just isn’t residing as much as its potential by not providing week after week one of the best sport on a worldwide stage.
“Younger audiences have turned an increasing number of to different leisure alternate options.”
Reichart plans to succeed in out to an intensive vary of soccer stakeholders together with golf equipment, gamers, coaches, followers, media and coverage makers.
“I feel dialogue can happen, it’s good there may be conciousness that the (establishment) can change and golf equipment must be ready to form their very own future and to think about what the brand new panorama might appear like,” he mentioned.
“Soccer can do higher, golf equipment ought to be capable to lead such a dialogue and be entitled to suggest new alternate options, free from threats, sanctions or exclusion (from) competitors as occurred prior to now.”
“The soccer ecosystem is turning into unsustainable, the pandemic has accelerated this pattern, the system is damaged,” he added.
Closed store ‘off the desk’
Launched by a few of Europe’s high golf equipment in April 2021, the Tremendous League’s plan to shake up European soccer fizzled out amid the fury of many supporters and the specter of political motion.
The prospect of a closed competitors for Europe’s elite angered followers particularly, however Reichart mentioned a brand new method meant that may not be the case.
“Considered one of our key messages is everlasting membership is off the desk, and we need to talk about on the premise of an open competitors primarily based on sporting benefit.”
Three of the golf equipment — Actual Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus — proceed to marketing campaign for the Tremendous League. A dispute over an alleged abuse of a dominant place by UEFA is to be settled in early 2023 by the European Courtroom of Justice.
UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin defiantly claimed in Could the Tremendous League venture was “over as soon as and for all or a minimum of for 20 years”, however Reichart stays assured.
“You may get suspicious if someone tells you time and again one thing is useless,” mentioned Reichart, a specialist in media and sports activities rights who additionally beforehand labored for the Spanish media group Atresmedia.
“Right now we show that the initiative just isn’t useless, it’s evolving, it’s reshaping, it has reassessed, and it’s reaching out to stakeholders and the soccer household.”
In response to the Tremendous League risk, UEFA launched a significant reform of the Champions League for 2024, with 36 groups as an alternative of 32, and an eight-day mini-league as an alternative of the standard group stage.
“That’s not moving into the precise course,” mentioned Reichart.
“I’m fairly satisfied followers is not going to just like the 2024-2027 format, which has clear weaknesses, an enormous variety of further matches, and the identical outdated final 16 the place the Champions League is getting actually fascinating and thrilling, once we are in spring.”
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