Fans furious, UEFA threatens legal action over breakaway Super League

Marcel, the test I was referring to would be not to select the players, even if they weren't 'officially' banned by FIFA. That will be the test for each local FA or national team coach.

Roger....it would be FIFA issuing the bans...not the national federations....but the point remains ...will they have the guts ? As I read today on a euro website...history's greatest ever game of poker has just begun.

Also, no one outside the UK and the rugged late night enthusiasts in UK ex colonies watched the EPL either until the Chinese and Middle East got rich enough.

Yes, Japan is an exception. I totally agree. It's largely driven by the fact they are world cup regulars and competent. China, HK, Singapore, Malaysia...their national teams suck so people just bandwagon up the big Euro leagues. The world cup in Russia - Chinese fans were the second largest at the cup...the two teams they declared they were fans of: Portugal and Argentina. Surprise, surprise.

They will eventually stop watching this super league when it's the same crap day in day out.

Having had time to digest this information, it is going to be a test for each local FA in the near future. FIFA have already stated that they will support UEFA and if UEFA does ban these clubs and their players from any of their competitions, then each member association will be required to do the same thing. So come this summer's European Comp, will the likes of Croatia be willing to ban Modric, or England Kane, or any of the many Spanish players in both Barca and Real? That will be the test for UEFA and their members. If these Football Associations start to find excuses not to ban their own players, then it will go ahead.

Having had time to digest this information, it is going to be a test for each local FA in the hear future. FIFA have already stated that they will support UEFA and if UEFA does ban these clubs and their players from any of their competitions, then each member association will be required to do the same thing. So come this summer's European Comp, will the likes of Croatia be willing to ban Modric, or England Kane, or any of the many Spanish players in both Barca and Real? That will be the test for UEFA and their members. If these Football Associations start to find excuses not to ban their own players, then it will go ahead.

Because no one outside of the UK is going to watch it.

my interest in the EPL would go up by a lot if it happened. I am a Man City supporter though but not as passionate as I used to be. My second team is QPR.

Clearly haven't spent much time in Japan. You see more J2 shirts than EPL (proud owner of a V-Varen Nagasaki shirt myself), and Samurai Blue clobber is practically de rigueur.

This is the perfect opportunity for the FA to start again and create a more competitive, random league. Impose strict salary and player caps to encourage an actual competition between 20 clubs - not just 4, while 16 fight for scraps and to avoid relegation. By all means still sign big TV deals but let that money filter down properly through the lower leagues to prevent small clubs folding. It is totally achievable but they have to get rid of this "creed of greed". So waving bye bye to these 6 clubs could actually provide a unique opportunity for the FA. UEFA (a greed monster itself) could then follow and bring back a knock-out only Champions League format - not these stacked stage groups that again benefit the big greedy clubs. If they have an off game and are defeated there are still plenty of games to come good and take their "rightful" place. So let them go and play each other year after boring year to satisfy a market far from home.

I'm not sure I like the idea, however, I have wondered how long it was going to take for this type of league to start. It is a natural progression (from the individual country leagues and the Champions League) when you think about it, especially when you look at the global interest in the big clubs, and they are trying to pit the best against the best each week. Think about the changes in the English competitions over the years as the best example. As soon as money got involved and you look at the private owners of some of the clubs, you can see why there is the push. If it wasn't for the money, would there be as much an uproar about it? Competitions morph into other competitions at all levels, some through promotion/relegations, others through money. As I said, I'm not sure of it, but I understand the idea behind it.

They'll probably just boost the size of their squads to essentially have two teams, a midweek and a weekend squad and hoover up a lot of talent from smaller clubs. The only way for the EPL to stop this occurring would be to exclude players who play in the Super League from playing in the Premier League. You could have clubs like Tottenham where Harry Kane only plays mid-week and barely plays EPL matches.

That's the issue clubs looking to cash in direct cutting out UEFA. I can see their logic looking for an NFL size TV deal

I strongly agree with the principle of this post. The reality, sadly, is that this is simply to feed an Asian television market where they want nothing more than seeing these big clubs play each other over and over and over again. I've lived across Asia for the past 15 years (China, HK, and Singapore with a brief stint in Malaysia)...it's all the same. Football loving fans to be sure, but you only ever see the shirts of these twelve clubs being worn. You never see a fan in Asia wearing an Atalanta shirt, or a Malaga shirt, or a Burnley shirt, or god forbid, a shirt from their local league. The sad fact is that these fans probably couldn't be able to name the other 14 clubs in the EPL but would across a freeway to meet Sergio Aguero. It is this supremely lucrative market that this super league is going after.

Pure greed, no care for the sport, just for the dollars.

Why not? It's a pro/rel tournament at the end of the day. 6 other clubs can become the big six. These current big six actually need the EPL more than the EPL needs them. If they were expelled from the EPL their value would plummet. The EPL was doing just fine before Manchester City and Tottenham became competitive. It's also ironic Arsenal actually think they are a big six club these days. They are clinging to the coat tails trying to be relevant.

This is what happens when the suits have jumped the shark. A bit like the "Super League" wars we had here 20 odd years ago. Which fans wouldn't love more exclusive "competition" with the big dozen or so clubs making even more money. Where is FIFA in all of this and ban these players from playing in any of their competitions? This farce of a plastic league will die a quick death.

What junk. I hope UEFA come down hard on these clubs

Spurs fan here. I am opposed to this idea. Hope it is an ambit claim to get reform in the football authorities because I cannot see any good coming from this proposal. If Real Madrid can afford to pay Gareth Bale £600,000 per week, the top clubs do NOT need any more money.