Lewis Maunze, Sunday Life Correspondent
The European Super League (ESL) was the brainchild of Real Madrid’s Florentino Perez and the other”‘traditional-big-team” accomplices. This league was supposed to comprise of 20 traditional European teams from England, Spain and Italy.
These “elite” teams were going to compete in a mid-week league and would not be susceptible to relegation. The lure was that viewers would have the pleasure to watch high profile teams like FC Barcelona versus Manchester United FC or Real Madrid versus Inter Milan week in and week out. Contrary to this idea, managers, fans, pundits, former and current players all stood together then publicly and vociferously spoke against this ESL which resulted in the withdrawal of the majority of the teams a few days later.
Pros
It was mooted that the idea behind this league was somewhat of a “stress package” during the Covid -19 period to fill the gap of a “sport-less period” as well as to assist the cash strapped teams. The American bank JP Morgan was willing to commit about US$5 billion and each club receiving a further 3,5 Billion Euros to support infrastructure development plans and to offset the impact of Covid-19.
Cons
The fact that there was a select few clubs automatically caused a problem with regards to the selection criteria. The fact that these teams were immune to relegation defeats the spirit of competition in sport and sours the entertainment value. The ESL would definitely rival the Champions League and the domestic leagues where these teams come from rendering them dead.
As we now know that the ESL plan turned into a melee and was unanimously rejected before it really took off. This has resulted in Uefa, Fifa and respective football associations taking a stance and creating policy reforms. These newly formulated rules and regulations are targeted towards football club private ownership models, ethics and governance as well as legislating for sanctions which are meant to have a deterrent effect on potential future transgressors.
With such a backdrop this leads to the question, why Africa is considering the Super League?
Simba SEO Barbara Gonzalez dropped a hint at the General Assembly that Caf will look into implementing an African Super League which has always been the intention of Fifa President Gianni Infantino. And the world still awaits to see if the Caf executive committee will consider this seriously.
This comment coincides with the maiden tenancy of the billionaire businessman and Caf’s new president Patrice Motsepe. This comes at a time when Africa is barely getting to grips with Motsepe’s controversial election which was strongly supported and lobbied for by Gianni Infantino who is also in favour of an African Super League. We await to see what stance the new Sheriff in town will take.
What are the advantages?
It goes without saying the African soccer brand is in desperate need of an overhaul compared to how the Europeans package their footballing brands. For example, Africans are more likely to affiliate themselves with an English team rather than being patriotic.
And as a marketing strategy the African Super League will put African soccer on the centre-stage if it adopted the American Franchise-esque model. This will also have a positive effect financially and image-wise to the African women’s game.
There is the potential of financial injection as well as the potential to generate revenue in billions in a bid to be able to compete with the financial investment the South America and Europe confederations are receiving.
Aren’t we simply adopting a still-born problem?
Obviously the selection and composition of the teams is first. One of the famous mooted draft lists of the “super 20 no relegation” teams comprises of the following SC Zamalek, Al-Ahly, Pyramids, Wyad Casablanca, Raja Casablanca, Esperance, Etoile du Sahel, Club Africain, TP Mazembe, AS vita Club, Kaizer Chiefs, Orlando Pirates, Mamelodi Sundowns, Enyimba, Simba SC, Al Hilal, Al Merreikh, USM Alger, Horoya and Primero de Agosto. At least 50% being North African teams., which then raises a question of the selection process among the 52 countries.
There are different types of teams going through different developmental dynamics. For example, there are the traditional evergreen competitors like Al-Ahly and SC Zamalek; the sleeping giants, Gor Mahia and Asante Kotoko; the ambitious new projects like Cape Town City. And thus more questions will arise in that will teams be selected on popularity? Historical performances? Or the Caf co-efficient?
Where does this leave the rest of African powerhouses like Senegal, Ghana and Cameroon? And more specifically, how about our dear Zimbabwe? In a continental rating quotient we would not obviously score as high as our North African counterparts but this would surely be “morale deflating”. It ruins the romance of pitting an underdog unknown team performing a giant killing feat.
Ultimately this amounts to killing the vision of new and ambitious teams like Golden Eagles, Bulawayo Chiefs and Herentals. One recalls the Caps United of 2017 which beat the Egyptian powerhouse Zamalek 3-1 or in 1998 when Dynamos FC lost in the final to Asec Mimosa in the Caf Champions league. Where does this leave well-oiled and ambitious teams like FC Platinum that is on the cusp of challenging for continental honours?
Conclusion
There clearly seems to be more questions than solutions. Is the a typical case of the Fifa president seeking to maintain or develop relations with the African confederation, member associations and political bodies as enshrined in Section 35 in terms of the June 2019 Fifa statutes.
Or is this brazen disrespect for African leadership as I cannot imagine the president interfering in ConcaCaf or Uefa footballing affairs? Or is this a further perpetuation of disorganisation in African football? My humble view is let’s leave the status quo as it is. Lastly, it is my belief that the simple equation is that if a team is good enough in its domestic league it should make it to the continental safari, the Caf champions league, SIMPLE!!!