Wednesday, 4 April 2007

a sport dying of excessive money

I know it's not going to happen tomorrow but football is surely at the beginning of a slow and painful death. At international level the sport now no longer holds the draw that it once did. Over paid premiership players, particularly those playing for top sides who regularly play in the champions league, no longer regard playing for their country as the height of their careers.
Champions league games and to a lesser extent, but nevertheless growing extent, premiership games are plagued with players feigning injury, diving, holding and any other cheating that gets them a win. Referees turn a blind eye to a number of fouls, as the level of tolerance of foul play has grown and grown.
Supporters are bled dry by their clubs and now we are on the brink of the creation of a 'european super league' with supporters being asked to cross europe to watch their side away from home. This will almost certainly lead to a further diminution of the status of playing for england or any other country. The euro super league will be the pinnacle of a player's achievement.
The irony is that even in the US, NFL and NBA there is not the dominance of the same sides year after year as there is in the premiership. This dominance will eventually kill the interest in the game by the supporter who attends games. Attendances are likely to fall and the top games will potentially be played in front of slowly emptying stadia and possibly emptying sofas and couchs? How long this will take, who knows, but i believe that this is the future of football in the uk.

No comments: