Arguably the most corrupt sporting body in the world announced on Wednesday that it would actively work against the potential creation of a breakaway European Super League. The announcement was in response to a report from Der Spiegel that showed clubs like Bayern Munich and Real Madrid were allegedly working with private consultants and investors to create a 16-team league featuring the best teams in England, France, Germany, Italy and Spain, beginning in 2021. Ownership of the league would get spread among 11 of the clubs while the remaining five would just be invited to participate.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino told reporters at FIFA headquarters that any player who participated in a privately-organized league outside of the current international structure would be banned from participating in international soccer, including the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
“You are either in or you are out,” he told reporters. “If there are players who don’t play in organised football, they don’t play organised football, and that encompasses everything - national leagues, confederation competitions, the Euros and the World Cup.”
FIFA legal director Alasdair Bell added: “The idea is if you break away, you break away – you don’t keep one foot in and one foot out.
For what it’s worth, Infantino’s reasoning behind impeding the progress of these plans has nothing to do with anything noble, like preserving the sanctity of the sport. The president has been fighting for his own plans for an international league: the Club World Cup. It would feature 24 teams from around the globe—including 12 from Europe—and presumably earn boatloads of money for FIFA itself.
Just leave the fucking sport alone, dammit.