Greed, Greed, Greed. It’s the hot word being thrown around at the moment. The 'go-to' for summing up the ever-enraging European Super League announcement – a stand-alone league proposed by Europe's uber-elite clubs.
In a strange roundabout way, the last 48 hours made me pick up a poem I loathed to read in college – The Inferno by Dante Alighieri. Despite its intricacies and mind-puzzling allegorical passages, the poem still manages to catch me off guard when I least expect it.
Dante is on a voyage through hell with his guide Virgil. In the fourth 'ring' of hell, Dante discovers those who have been punished for their avaricious behaviour.
Culprits found here are boiled alive in cauldrons of molten gold and condemned for hoarding their fortunes from others or spending too frivolously. Wealth is best described as a force – corrupting people and even punishing those who lack it.
And, as Dante put it, there is a "snake in the grass".
Having daily experience of this part of Hell~Gustave Doré's "Hoarders and Wasters" from Dante's Inferno, Canto VII pic.twitter.com/cBOsdwlOW5
— Engr. Khurram Dastgir-Khan (@kdastgirkhan) December 3, 2013
The line rings through my head as UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin condemned the 12 clubs forming a breakaway league on Monday, using the exact same term. Intentional or not, his words spoke volume – be careful what you wish for.
"We didn't know we had snakes so close to us. Now we know." Čeferain also told the UEFA press conference.
Greed is here regardless
The last few days have left questions on the minds of many football fans' love for the game, in an industry driven by money. Even as a football writer, I don't know where to begin.
But let's not kid ourselves either. Greed has always been a problem in football. The Premier League breakaway origins in 1992 faced similar distaste and rebuke from fans. FIFA and UEFA alike have also had their fair share of corruptions and scandals in recent years too.
The Super League plan has not been sprung out of anywhere. The breaking news on Sunday was not a random, poisonous injection into a game of divine purity.
File photo dated October 21, 2015 of Nasser Al Khelaifi, Real Madrid's President Florentino Perez and Nicolas Sarkozy at Parc des Princes stadium in Paris, France. Photo by Christian Liewig/ABACAPRESS.COMWere the Super League hopefuls hoping to wag their finger at us in ten years time – saying 'I told you so!'? 'Isn't this brilliant?!' It's hard to say because, where do we go from here? How much more exponential growth can there be?
Would the Milan derby be in Saudi Arabia? Or the Manchester derby in Dallas, Texas? What would distinguish it from a pre-season kickabout? And what would it prove with nothing to play for?
The power of empowering
The reaction from players and manager further showed the disconnect of the Super League's plans between club and boardroom. Bruno Fernandes, Jordan Henderson, James Milner and Kevin De Bruyne, all came out publicly to denounce the proposal.
Another more poignant post was from Wolves winger Daniel Podence. The Portuguese international took to Instagram to share his thoughts on the spectacle of the Champions League.
"The Ball. The Song. The Dream. The Zidane’s volley... Kaka’s Solo... Liverpool In Athens... Ole in Barcelona... Cris and Seedorf ... There some things we just can’t really pay for it." Podence wrote.
Podence's comments are only some of the euphoric moments that football can throw at us. Leicester's unthinkable title triumph in 2016, Liverpool's great comeback against Barcelona at Anfield in 2019, Tottenham's Lucas Moura hat-trick to sink Ajaxs' hearts – to name a few of a towering mound.
Football is a powerful thing with huge emotional attachment to all those involved. Dreams and memories are made on moments like these. The game should be empowered by meritocracy and equality – not the comfort of ransacking those who love it.
It’s a privilege to be able to watch and report on football. Football fans and journalists know what these spectacles mean to those who hold football close. You can't take that away. And those who tried – don't expect redemption.
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