Interesting to see how Chelsea are moving to get their feet under the high table of European football.
Kenyon and Laporta unite to chart Uefa direction
Matt Scott
Tuesday October 17, 2006
The Guardian
Chelsea and Barcelona have formed an unlikely political alliance that will see them become key decision makers for the future of European football.
The union has become possible because of Uefa reforms of its executive structures and the introduction of a new level of government that will cede key powers to the leading clubs and leagues. The European Professional Football Strategy Board, on which Chelsea's chief executive, Peter Kenyon, and Barcelona's president, Joan Laporta, will be prominent members, will effectively dictate the direction taken by Uefa over the next 20 years.
The development will come as a blow to the political ambitions of the G14, whose new president, David Dein, had hoped to reopen formal negotiations with Uefa over the thorny issue of player release for international matches.
Uefa, however, has vowed not to enter into dialogue with the G14 for as long as it sustains its legal action against the world and European governing bodies. The 18-team pressure group is, alongside the Belgian club Charleroi, a co-signatory to litigation demanding compensation for injury to the Morocco playmaker Abdelmajid Oulmers, sustained while he was on international duty.
Uefa is believed to have been assured by Laporta that he has successfully lobbied nine G14 member clubs to put their faith in the new body over the G14, splitting the group down the middle. The strategic board, due to take its first decisions in December, will be a supplementary tier of government that nominally sits below the executive committee.
However, far from being a sop to the clubs, it will ultimately dilute the power of the reigning executive committee, with all key strategic decisions at Uefa being taken by the new board. Specific terms of reference are being drawn up for the 13-member board but its composition has already been settled.
And that means huge influence for Kenyon, whose club is not a G14 member. He will be one of four representatives of the top clubs, alongside Milan's Umberto Gandini, Laporta and Ajax's Maarten Fontein. Each board member will serve a maximum term of three years.
Club power on the new body will be enhanced by the inclusion of four league representatives. Clubs' influence is also weighted heavily in favour of England and Spain, each with three nominees. Kenyon is joined by the Football Association's chairman, Geoff Thompson, in his role as a Uefa vice-president, and Dave Richards, the chairman of the Premier League.
It is expected that, with the four Uefa vice-presidents and the president on the new strategic board, in practice its decrees will automatically be ratified by the nominally superior committee. "There is no way that the executive committee could be seen to overrule decisions approved by four of their own vice-presidents," said a source.
Kenyon's recent rise to political prominence is a sign of the rapprochement between Chelsea and Uefa after their problems following the club's Champions League meeting with Barcelona two years ago. Kenyon also sits alongside Gandini, Laporta and Fontein on the 11-seat board of the European Club Forum, aimed at diminishing the influence of the G14 by embracing clubs into an in-house discussion group at Uefa.
Kenyon now occupies positions Dein was forced to relinquish when Premiership chairmen turned against him after he pushed for Chelsea to be arraigned for the illegal approach for Ashley Cole. It will be interesting to see how Arsenal's manager, Arsène Wenger, reacts to the strong club and league presence on Uefa's strategic board, even if it does entail the diminution of his vice-chairman's political status.
Wenger spoke at the weekend about the ongoing row between G14 and the supranational authorities. "The first problem is not to get [clubs] in G14; it is to find a new balance between club power and national federation power in international football," he said. "At the moment it is not right. The clubs have too big a handicap."
The 13 members
Lennart Johansson - Uefa president, Sweden
Geoff Thompson - Uefa vice-president, FA chairman, England
Senes Erzik - Uefa vice-president, Turkey
Per Ravn Omdal - Uefa vice-president, Norway
Angel María Villar Llona - Uefa vice-president, Spain
Dave Richards - Premier League, England
Frédéric Thiriez - French league
Emanuel Macedo de Medeiros - Portuguese league
José Luis Astiazarán - Spanish league
Peter Kenyon - Chelsea, England
Maarten Fontein - Ajax, Holland
Joan Laporta - Barcelona, Spain
Umberto Gandini - Milan, Italy
Kenyon and Laporta unite to chart Uefa direction
Matt Scott
Tuesday October 17, 2006
The Guardian
Chelsea and Barcelona have formed an unlikely political alliance that will see them become key decision makers for the future of European football.
The union has become possible because of Uefa reforms of its executive structures and the introduction of a new level of government that will cede key powers to the leading clubs and leagues. The European Professional Football Strategy Board, on which Chelsea's chief executive, Peter Kenyon, and Barcelona's president, Joan Laporta, will be prominent members, will effectively dictate the direction taken by Uefa over the next 20 years.
The development will come as a blow to the political ambitions of the G14, whose new president, David Dein, had hoped to reopen formal negotiations with Uefa over the thorny issue of player release for international matches.
Uefa, however, has vowed not to enter into dialogue with the G14 for as long as it sustains its legal action against the world and European governing bodies. The 18-team pressure group is, alongside the Belgian club Charleroi, a co-signatory to litigation demanding compensation for injury to the Morocco playmaker Abdelmajid Oulmers, sustained while he was on international duty.
Uefa is believed to have been assured by Laporta that he has successfully lobbied nine G14 member clubs to put their faith in the new body over the G14, splitting the group down the middle. The strategic board, due to take its first decisions in December, will be a supplementary tier of government that nominally sits below the executive committee.
However, far from being a sop to the clubs, it will ultimately dilute the power of the reigning executive committee, with all key strategic decisions at Uefa being taken by the new board. Specific terms of reference are being drawn up for the 13-member board but its composition has already been settled.
And that means huge influence for Kenyon, whose club is not a G14 member. He will be one of four representatives of the top clubs, alongside Milan's Umberto Gandini, Laporta and Ajax's Maarten Fontein. Each board member will serve a maximum term of three years.
Club power on the new body will be enhanced by the inclusion of four league representatives. Clubs' influence is also weighted heavily in favour of England and Spain, each with three nominees. Kenyon is joined by the Football Association's chairman, Geoff Thompson, in his role as a Uefa vice-president, and Dave Richards, the chairman of the Premier League.
It is expected that, with the four Uefa vice-presidents and the president on the new strategic board, in practice its decrees will automatically be ratified by the nominally superior committee. "There is no way that the executive committee could be seen to overrule decisions approved by four of their own vice-presidents," said a source.
Kenyon's recent rise to political prominence is a sign of the rapprochement between Chelsea and Uefa after their problems following the club's Champions League meeting with Barcelona two years ago. Kenyon also sits alongside Gandini, Laporta and Fontein on the 11-seat board of the European Club Forum, aimed at diminishing the influence of the G14 by embracing clubs into an in-house discussion group at Uefa.
Kenyon now occupies positions Dein was forced to relinquish when Premiership chairmen turned against him after he pushed for Chelsea to be arraigned for the illegal approach for Ashley Cole. It will be interesting to see how Arsenal's manager, Arsène Wenger, reacts to the strong club and league presence on Uefa's strategic board, even if it does entail the diminution of his vice-chairman's political status.
Wenger spoke at the weekend about the ongoing row between G14 and the supranational authorities. "The first problem is not to get [clubs] in G14; it is to find a new balance between club power and national federation power in international football," he said. "At the moment it is not right. The clubs have too big a handicap."
The 13 members
Lennart Johansson - Uefa president, Sweden
Geoff Thompson - Uefa vice-president, FA chairman, England
Senes Erzik - Uefa vice-president, Turkey
Per Ravn Omdal - Uefa vice-president, Norway
Angel María Villar Llona - Uefa vice-president, Spain
Dave Richards - Premier League, England
Frédéric Thiriez - French league
Emanuel Macedo de Medeiros - Portuguese league
José Luis Astiazarán - Spanish league
Peter Kenyon - Chelsea, England
Maarten Fontein - Ajax, Holland
Joan Laporta - Barcelona, Spain
Umberto Gandini - Milan, Italy
Comment