A scatter from James Corden of the American CBS Tonight Show.
Even in the USA, where soccer is not very popular, they already know about the Super League. In Europe, even prime ministers (for example, France and Britain) talk about it, the Late Late Show host James Corden explained everything to the American audience.
He's a British guy who not only hosts one of the most watched TV shows on CBS, but he also loves football: is friends with Beckham and is a fan of West Ham... In Monday's episode, James gave an 8-minute speech at the height of his emotions: he explained why he considers the Super League to be pure evil. If you know English - look. And below is the text version.
“Does anyone even know what's going on in European football? Yes, yes, I know that we are in America, but I refuse to call this sport soccer. Yes, this is the same game that people play in the park while you play softball.
Six teams from England, three teams from Italy and Spain each formed their own European Super League. It sounds silly now, but they changed the game that millions of people around the world love.
You might think that A European Super League with the best teams facing off against each other every season sounds cool - it is! And the coolest thing is that such a Super League already exists and is called the Champions League.... And any team in Europe, even the smallest one, can have a fabulous season and get there. And sometimes a strong club has a bad season and misses. Everything is logical - this is a sports competition.
But the founding clubs of the Super League want to get out of the Champions League and go into their own private circle of their own choosing. And they will participate in the tournament regardless of the results.
Okay, I'll try to explain it not boring for all those who are already bored - and this is 100% of the audience. The truth is that all this movement, all these top clubs, their owners, creating this Super League, are killing hundreds of other teams in Europe.
Teams that have played against them - both now and for decades. They ignore the fans of other teams and even the fans of their own clubs who are also disappointed by this development of events.
Even if you have not followed football (that is, soccer), you have definitely heard these names: Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool, Real Madrid, Milan, Barcelona - these are the biggest teams in the world ... And this decision is the most important one, it is colossal. And it breaks my heart. Honestly, it just breaks.
Because the owners of these clubs showed the worst example of greed I have ever seen in sports. Many clubs in Britain are over 100 years old and were founded by working class people - builders, dock workers. They were created by people from these places, and they also played for the people next to whom they live. This is not a franchise!
But over the past 10-15-20 years, these billionaire owners have been buying up all the top clubs and slowly pulling them away from the communities and roots on which they were founded. And this question has always sat in the head of every fan: “Do the owners understand what it really means to be a part of this club and its history? Can they be entrusted with the future of the club? "
Now every football fan knows the answer to this question. Not,the owners are well versed in football and understand what it means to be a fan. The answer is that they don't care about any of this. They don't care about anyone but their loved ones...
I believe that in this way they simply showed that they look at the fans of any football team with contempt. They want a private club where the rich can get richer. They don't care if the rest of the clubs go down. They will simply take the money and protect this money - now they will not depend on the game and success on the field.
It's just a shame!
Imagine that Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Saoirse Ronan and Viola Davis would create their own Oscars. And they would say: "Yes, there will be room for another actress, but we will always be nominated for an Oscar - no matter what the film we play in"...
The announcement from 12 club owners that they were implementing such a stunning plan came right in the middle of the season - after all, there are still about seven games left. It's just disgusting. So, in the statement, they mentioned the impact of the pandemic three times as the reason for the launch of the Super League.
The coronavirus has been a disaster for clubs across Britain. And it's hard for me to convey to you how much these communities relied on football. Not only financially (although this is also an important aspect), football was just the center of everything! The center of all hopes and dreams of the city. That's what football is! And these hopes and dreams were simply trampled on. Not only in Britain, but throughout Europe.
And the reason for these shattered dreams is that a bunch of billionaires want to buy a second yacht or a bigger yacht. Football is a working class game where everyone can beat everyone on a good day. This is what makes football wonderful, and this is what turned the game into a global power.
A few years ago, Leicester, which you probably never even heard of, won the Premier League. Became a champion! It was the most incredible event that I have seen in my life! This gave every fan hope.
Leicester have as many Premier League titles as Liverpool and one more than Tottenham - and they weren't even called into this gang of rich boys. This is because the top clubs don't want Leicester's achievement ever to be repeated! And this is no longer a sport.
If the Super League project is implemented - and, unfortunately, I think it will happen - it will be the death of the sport we love. I don't want to dramatize, but I really think so. It seems to me that the Super League will happen after all, and there is nothing we can do about it.
The only thing we can do is remember the names of the owners of these clubs. The team owners made this decision. How they hid behind the pandemic as a cause, how they announced everything when the season is still on.
They did not consult with any football player, with any coach and, of course, did not ask the fans of their own team anything. On Sunday at three o'clock in the afternoon, they bought from us the sport we love. And they will destroy it without even thinking about the damage they are doing.
Don't forget the people who are doing this. They are the owners of the clubs. Decades from now, when the Super League blooms, there will be dozens of beautiful goals and all that. Then the owners will think that the water has already flowed under the bridge. But do not forget that it was these billionaires who took something as pure and beautiful as football and knocked all the love and joy out of it.
And they did everything just because of the money.
And it's disgusting. "