EU nationalist arrogance
Euro MP's will this week try to make the flying of the EU flag and singing of the EU anthem compulsory in European football championships. An amendment to a report going through the Parliament says, "during the finals of Europe football competitions, particularly the Champions League and the European Championships, the European flag shall be raised and the European Anthem shall be played".
Godfrey Bloom MEP said, "This is just Euro nationalism at its most arrogant. The Euro 2008 finals are being played in Switzerland and Austria. Maybe these fools in Brussels want to annoy the hosts, or do they just not know what they are doing? Haven't they noticed that Switzerland is not part of the EU".
"In this year's Champion's League we had a Russian side playing a Turkish side, neither are from EU. And how would the Norwegians feel if they were forced to run out under a flag that has nothing to do with them?"
The grandstanding is just the latest attempt to create a single European nation in the sporting field first apparent when the EU started to hand out hundreds of flags at the Ryder Cup in 2002.
Mr Bloom said, "For pities sake, lets keep EU nationalism out of football".
Notes
The Ivo Belet report of the future of Professional football will be voted on in Plenary at the Brussels Euro-parliament Hemicycle next Thursday (29th March 2007). The amendment in question is Amendment 25 by Christine Prets.
Euro 2008
http://www.uefa.com/competition
THE EU ON FOOTBALL This the best we can find out.
Will the EU allow Scots, Welsh, N.Ireland and England to have their own teams for international sports competition in future?
ANSWER: At present the rule is that only Member states may be represented, not regions. This means that England, Scotland, Wales and N.Ireland will lose their right to field teams in favour of one British team.
BUT - The UK is currently haggling to be the exception to this rule, almost certainly because the UK government is terrified of how football fans would receive the new rules. The outcome is uncertain but the discussions of the issue actually include whether or not Gibraltar should have it's own National team. BIT OF A WILDCARD!
CONTROL OF PREMIERSHIP FOOTBALL
It is worth mentioning also that the EU wants control of Football, including control of squad makeup and restrictions on players pay, and subsidies for grounds. They see football as being central to the fight against money laundering, racism and prostitution and enforcing EU social policy. They also want the centralised marketing of premiership television rights, not least because whereas the EU officially gets 1% of EU Member State GNP, football generates 3-4%, i.e. the control of premiership TV rights could be a huge cash cow. They constantly cite corruption in football as an excuse for an EU takeover as if the EU were a suitable governing body, and want to dictate to UEFA and exclude FIFA from the new setup
The EU sees ownership of shares in football teams e.g. Manchester United etc as part of an 'American Model' which they find offensive. They seem to be aiming at 'EU-Nationalising football'.
When you or I see a football match we see an exciting competition. When the EU sees it they see it as a massive propaganda opportunity. Hitler had the same view of the Olympics.
One of the leading lights of the EU Football Review is New Labour MEP Richard Corbett & the UK government is right behind him.
Here are some quotes;
"Football is not just an industry; it is part of public policy". Richard Corbett MEP Labour (Yorkshire & Humberside).
"The EU has been committed since the 1980's to including football in the Constitution". Emanuel Macedo De Medeiros, General Manager of the European Professional Football Leagues. Wed 3rd May 2006.
"The rejection of our constitution meant that the UK presidency decided to allow us to involve ourselves in football none the less". And "Citizenship through football is a way of achieving a European Identity. Football helps us form a managed community". Jose Luis Arnaut MEP, Chair, Independent (EU) European Football Review.
"A rule on stopping young players going abroad would protect the rights of individual clubs". Mr Thierez, President of the Ligue Francaise De Football. "Sport has been reduced to it's economic aspects. It's political aspects have just been ignored!”
| Article published in East Anglian Daily Times - 5th June 2006 - Commission’s Professional Foul |
| Brussels has
unveiled its blueprint for the takeover of football. It wants to control how
football is run in Britain and the rest of the EU and it is proposing an
EU-wide "good governance" structure that will overrule national football
associations on almost every issue. Football chiefs are claiming that the game would be subject to more restrictive rules than any other sector of the economy. The proposals include a salary cap on players, a new EU payroll tax on football clubs and European-wide regulations on transfers. There are also plans to introduce a 'fit and proper person test’ for senior figures in the game, from club owners and managers to referees. These recommendations would in effect enable the European Commission to direct the sport in England, Scotland and member countries - on a pan-European basis. The reaction from senior figures within the game is that the recommendations would "create more problems than they would solve". Acute Embarrassment Football chiefs intensely dislike the salary cap idea, which would normally be a set percentage of club turnover. The league thinks that it would favour larger clubs and would be "inappropriate" for a modern economy. The 165 page report, drawn up by Jose Luis Arnaut, the Portuguese sports minister, on behalf of the EU, is an acute embarrassment to the Prime Minister as he introduced the idea of Brussels getting involved in football during Britain's presidency of the EU last year. Richard Caborn, the sports minister, was a key advocate of the EU investigation and is given 'special thanks' in the report. European Commission President, Jose Manuel Barroso has already received the document, which claims that radical action is needed to tackle the problems caused by corruption, soaring wages and the growing power of a small number of wealthy clubs. From time to time, we all get a bit fed up with the behaviour of some highly paid footballers but does that mean we want Brussels to take it over? For a start, I have a credibility problem with the European Commission setting itself up in judgement over corruption and high salaries. My major area of concern is the appalling precedent it sets. If Brussels takes over football, which sport will be next? To use a football cliché, at the end of the day, the game is a private business, what is the EU doing interfering? Downing Street is said to be appalled by the report and wants it to be 'shelved'. Isn’t it about time the Prime Minister learned that Brussels wants to take over everything it possibly can and, in this case, is licking its lips at getting its hands on all that lovely football money. He should know by now that you should never let Brussels get a foot in the door on anything. For further information about Jeffrey Titford MEP, go to www.jeffreytitfordmep.co.uk |
Front page of the Scottish issue of The Sun Jan 24 2007
IOL:
MEPs call for European-wide football regulations
29/03/2007 - 18:32:46
Euro MPs today called for European-wide rules governing professional football -
from stadium security and television rights to financial management and the
training of young talent.
A report approved in Brussels called on the European Commission to draw up an
“action plan” for European football – even though the EU has no legal power
to
regulate sport.
Drawn up by Belgian centre-right MEP Ivo Belet, the report acknowledges the lack
of law-making authority, but says the EU treaties contain “a wide array of
instruments to serve such a plan”.
The social and economic challenges facing the game are too great for football’s
governing bodies to tackle alone, warns the report.
A majority of MEPs said European standards would help to combat football
violence and hooliganism and promote the sport’s campaign against racism and
xenophobia.
But Conservative MEP and professional football referee Chris Heaton-Harris
warned Eurocrats to keep away: “Football is not another industry for politicians
to regulate. It is about time that politicians agreed that the best people to
govern sports are the sports federations themselves.”
Liberal Democrat MEP Sharon Bowles rejected claims the move amounted to a plan
for the EU to take over running the game.
“This report is not about the EU taking over football. There is no appetite in
the Commission or the Council (EU governments) for any football legislation.
Europe’s institutions must stay well clear of the political bodies already in
place. National associations, leagues and clubs are best placed to make the
right decisions.
“Football in Europe is well run, professional and a model of self-regulation.”
But the report’s call for social measures to safeguard the interests of junior
players, monitor employment laws and enforce anti-discrimination rules, should
be welcomed she said.
The report says European governing body UEFA should be supported in efforts to
improve self-regulation, but urges the Commission to clarify the “legal status”
of an increasingly commercial sport complicated by a combination of European and
national laws and the rules of its own governing bodies.
The report goes on: “Football rules and procedures need to be guided by good
governance principles such as transparency, representativeness and
accountability.”
The report warns the widening gap between top-end and other clubs is
increasingly concentrating sporting success amongst a small number of clubs, a
development which now threatens to erode “the competitive balance and
uncertainty of results which is the essence of an exciting sport”.
MEPs want UEFA to boost its club licensing system, designed to ensure a level
playing field for clubs and contribute to their financial stability. The system
should be improved to guarantee financial transparency and proper management,
said the report.
It also urges UEFA and world body FIFA to work together with European clubs and
leagues to agree a collective insurance plan so clubs are not penalised if a
player is injured during a national team match.
MEPs backed the collective selling of TV rights, so fair distribution of
revenues from television coverage ensures solidarity between professional and
amateur games.
Labour MEP Richard Corbett commented: “The collective sale of television rights
is not only vital for all professional clubs but the money generated by the
likes of the Premier League is filtered down to grassroots football, ensuring a
bright future for the game.”
The report supports UEFA’s “home-grown players” rule, which sets a minimum
number of locally-educated and trained players per team – four in the 2006-2007
season and six in 2007-2008.
But where clubs are giving contracts to young foreign talent under 16, there
should be safeguards to ensure immigration laws against child trafficking are
respected.
One controversial amendment from an Austrian socialist MEP was dropped before
today’s vote – a call for the flying of the EU flag and the singing of the EU
anthem to be made compulsory in European football championships.
UK Independence Party MEP Godfrey Bloom, speaking before the idea was axed,
commented: “For pity’s sake, let’s keep EU nationalism out of football”.
He pointed out that Switzerland – a non-EU country – was one of the Euro 2008
host countries. And he added: “In this year’s Champions League we had a Russian
side playing a Turkish side, neither of which are in the EU. And how would the
Norwegians feel if they were forced to run out under a flag that has nothing to
do with them?
“This grandstanding is just the latest attempt to create a single European
nation in the sporting field.”