Vital Manchester City received the following press release from CNN.
Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore spoke to CNN earlier this week and in doing so talked about Manchester City FC, a European breakaway league and more.
Chances of Manchester City winning the Premier League
SCUDAMORE: ‘It would just be nice to have a new name on the trophy. That’s no disrespect to the names that have been on the trophy before but when you sit where I sit you want the season to last as long as it can, you want new names on the trophy and you want the promoted teams to stay up if they can – that’s not condemning anyone else – I like all the clubs equally. But that’s what you want when you sit where I sit – you want that competitiveness.’
The potential of a European breakaway league
SCUDAMORE: ‘It’s just not going to happen. What has been said has been said but I’m not going to go along with the sentiment.’
‘In reality we have a Champions League, it’s a fantastic competition. Obviously there are some things the clubs would like to alter and ultimately discussions will take place and UEFA will do something to make sure things stay intact.’
‘When it comes to ultimate football sanctions you just can’t break away. The only reason the Premier League was formed was because it had the permission of our Football Association. They are the ultimate arbiters of football in this country and for anyone else to go and play unsanctioned competitions is unthinkable.’
‘UEFA would have to agree with what happened, so the idea that anybody in football can just break away and do what they want is just impossible.’
There’s an increasing number of foreign owners in the Premier League. There was talk recently that the franchise model was the model some of these owners might want to pursue and that some didn’t really like the idea of promotion and relegation. Is anything likely to change?
SCUDAMORE: ‘In reality it doesn’t matter to us whether they’re foreign or English, what matters to us is how they run their clubs. This idea that everyone who is a non-English owner is sat somewhere in a club with these eight or nine other foreign owners, somehow with a common view is nonsensical.’
‘The one thing I can’t see changing is promotion and relegation. That’s the lifeblood of the whole league. Why do we get so much promotion around the world?
‘Well, Wolverhampton Wanderers when they were bottom last season could still end up beating Manchester United. And there`s no other league in the world when the bottom teams can be competitive with the top. And that’s because they have to fight to avoid relegation.’
Vital Man City would like to thank CNN for sending us this article.
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