(updates G14 reaction from fifth para)
By Mark Ledsom
BUDAPEST, March 23 - Clubs participating in
European competitions could soon be asked to declare their
support for the sport's administrators or face exclusion.
The proposal was made at the UEFA Congress on Thursday when
European soccer's governing body sought new ways to tackle the
perceived threat of the G14 group of wealthy clubs.
"One action we could take when inviting clubs into UEFA
competitions would be to make the invitations conditional upon
those clubs agreeing on the principal of our sporting
structures," UEFA CEO Lars-Christer Olsson suggested.
Since UEFA issues those invitations via the various national
associations, rather than to the clubs directly, Olsson said it
would be up to the associations to ensure that teams signed
these documents "without reservations".
Thomas Kurth, general-secretary of G14, said: "Today's
attack on G14 does not mean the issues which we are fighting for
will go away.
"At the moment, the rules of the game are written by the
federations, for the federations. Professional clubs have no
direct representation and that needs to change.
"Today's threats are simply an attempt to defend the
position of the federations and not deal openly with the real
bones of contention such as representation, player insurance and
compensation."
Earlier, the 52 national associations had unanimously
approved a resolution that formalised their opposition to G14,
vowing to defend the sport's interests in the face of recent
challenges from "a self-appointed group of clubs".
"Football is about fairness, opportunity, excitement and
variety," insisted the resolution, which was brought to the
Congress by UEFA's Executive Committee.
"It is not a closed shop, where only the richest and most
powerful are invited to the table."
The group, comprising 18 European clubs including Real
Madrid, Manchester United, Bayern Munich and Juventus, is pitted
against UEFA, world governing body FIFA and the national
associations in a court case in Charleroi, Belgium.
G14 wants the regulations surrounding the compulsory release
of players for international matches changed and clubs to be
compensated if players are injured playing for their countries.
It also wants executive representation within UEFA and more
cash from the game's governing bodies as well as from the
European Championship and World Cup. It has denied it wants to
set up a breakaway elite league in Europe.
"SELF-INTERESTED"
While not naming G14 explicitly, the UEFA resolution said:
"The self-appointed group of clubs are not interested in
protecting competition, but only interested in protecting
themselves and their economic interests and in dictating their
conditions on others."
In a speech to the Congress ahead of Thursday's vote, UEFA
president Lennart Johansson argued that G14 was looking to
"flout the fundamental principles of democracy by pompously
proclaiming themselves to be 'the voice of the clubs'."
In passing the resolution, UEFA said it would defend the
right of smaller clubs to participate in European competitions,
fight to maintain the current rules on the international release
of players and defend the central marketing structure of its
lucrative Champions League competition.
FIFA president Sepp Blatter, attending the conference as a
guest, thanked the associations for their backing at what he
called "a somewhat critical time for world football".
"Everything that happens in European football has an
influence on global football," Blatter added. "Can you conceive
football without the national teams or the national
associations? It would mean the collapse of the whole pyramid of
football because of the elitism of a few."