Robert Peston Robert Peston

Why are politicians picking on the football Super League?

(Photo: Getty)

The collective gasp of outrage – led by Prime Minister Boris Johnson – at the decision of a few wealthy clubs around Europe to announce the creation of a European Super League is either naive or hypocritical.

Because the idea that professional football is some kind of social enterprise owned and run by fans and communities might have been true 100 years ago, but in recent decades it has been a rapacious, commercial enterprise motivated mostly by money.

It is quite difficult to see why the cartelisation of football should be what jolts our political leaders to man the barricades

And does anyone think FIFA, UEFA and the Premier League have any kind of serious moral authority, given how they’ve conducted themselves in recent years?

As it happens, I oppose the new European Super League. But largely because I can’t stand the idea of seeing my beloved Arsenal – one of the founder members – humiliated week after week by teams with deeper pockets and better management.

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