Sheikhs to change the face of world football

Sheikhs to change the face of world football....Just read this and was wondering what impact this would have on world football.I am not big on how much money is in the middle east i do think this would be a crazy move:)

The Times Exclusive: Absolutely Fascinating - Sheikhs to change the face of world football

The world’s leading football clubs are to be offered enormous financial inducements to participate in a 24-team tournament every two years in Qatar and neighbouring Gulf states, The Times has learnt.

Backed by the Qatari royal family, the self-styled “Dream Football League” (DFL) will release plans next month for a new club tournament that it hopes to establish as a rival to the Champions League and the Club World Cup.

The move, the latest stage of Qatar’s bid to establish itself as a dominant player in world football, represents a clear threat to the existing powerbases of Fifa, football’s world governing body, and Uefa, its European counterpart.

It remains to be seen which, if any, Barclays Premier League clubs will sign up for the project, but DFL is prepared to offer elite clubs such as Barcelona and Manchester United an astonishing €200 million (about £175 million) per two-year cycle in an attempt to gain support.

Its plan is to have four of England’s most prestigious clubs among 16 “permanent” DFL members, with a further eight global clubs competing on an invitational basis.

The project is being driven from Doha and Paris after the recent takeover of Paris Saint-Germain by Qatar Sports Investment (QSI).
Qatar is eager to win the full support of the increasingly influential European Club Association (ECA), which is involved in a continuing power struggle with Uefa and Fifa, but the recent ECA general assembly, held in Doha, featured a stern warning from Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, the chairman, to PSG about the French club’s aggressive attempts to win power and influence among the game’s elite.

If successful, the idea — which would feature the first tournament held across the region in the summer of 2015 — would change the face of world football, not least in widening the gap between the richest clubs and the rest.

The sums under discussion would dwarf those in the Champions League, which has an annual prize fund of £595 million. Chelsea won £47.3 million as European champions last season.

DFL’s idea is that the sums involved would lead clubs to make the tournament their top priority, even ahead of the Champions League and their domestic leagues, particularly in an era in which additional revenue will help clubs such as PSG and Manchester City, respectively owned by sovereign wealth funds in Qatar and Abu Dhabi, to overcome Uefa’s new “financial fair play” regulations.

The idea of holding the tournament in the summer is a key part of Qatar’s strategy. Having encountered widespread objections to its controversial plans to host the 2022 World Cup finals in summer, when temperatures soar beyond 40C (104F), Qatar aims to demonstrate that it can, with the backing of the most powerful clubs, overcome concerns about player and spectator safety with the use of air conditioning not just in the stadiums but throughout all host cities.

DFL plans to hold the tournament not only in Qatar but in six cities across the Gulf, with venues in Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and possibly Saudi Arabia.
Officials from Uefa and the Premier League declined to comment on the DFL proposals last night. The ECA did not respond to inquiries.

Leading figures from Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City and Manchester United also declined to respond, although some privately expressed full support for the existing competition in club football while saying that they had not heard of the DFL proposals.

The existing European club competition structure has been far more stable since Uefa reacted to the “Media Partners” breakaway league threat of the 1990s by expanding the Champions League, but there have been renewed discussions in recent years about the idea of creating a competition whereby the elite clubs play each other more often than the present arrangements allow.

Florentino Pérez, the Real Madrid president, said in 2009 that it was time to push for “a new European super league, which guarantees that the best always play the best, which does not happen in the Champions League”.

At very least, it is possible that there will be a desire among the clubs to use the interest from Qatar to push for changes to the existing Champions League and Europa League structure and to the financial rewards that are involved.

But in Qatar they are serious about the DFL proposal.
As one source close to the project said: “These people have already shown that, if they want something to happen, they will throw enough money at it to make it happen. And the football industry has shown that everything can be bought for the right price.”

Oliver Kay: Shifting sands that could transform the global football map

Be afraid. Be very afraid. If you were already worried that modern sport was at risk of selling its soul to the highest bidder, prepare for the Qatari vision of football in 2015.

It is a vision of a Champions League-style tournament taking place in Doha and other cities across the Gulf region in the searing heat of summer — but with air-conditioning technology in use not only in the stadiums but, in the interests of supporter safety, in public areas across the cities. And it is a vision that Dream Football League (DFL) hopes to persuade every leading club on the planet to buy into — and is prepared to offer inducements of up to £175 million for them to sign up for the first two-year tournament cycle.

Two of the most influential administrators in English football expressed horror last night, when the latest proposals emerging from Doha were put to them. They maintained that, in the course of discussions with Uefa and with the European Club Association (ECA), the specific DFL proposals had not yet come up.

But as one of them said, while declining to comment publicly: “I’m not surprised. The Qataris are putting an incredible amount of money into football in all kinds of directions — not just to Paris Saint-Germain, not just to Barcelona with their shirt-sponsorship deal. What they don’t seem to realise is that it’s going to be extraordinarily difficult to pull something like that together.”

So why are they even trying? Why is a desert nation with a population of less than two million, willing to spend such mind-boggling sums in an attempt to add club football to a portfolio of sporting events that already includes ATP and WTA tennis tournaments, the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters golf, an IAAF Diamond League athletics meeting and other equestrian and motor sport events as well as, most prestigious of all, the 2022 World Cup?

The answer is that Qatar wants more. It wants all the sport that it can get its hands on. And if it costs it hundreds upon hundreds upon hundreds of millions of pounds even to stage one tournament, it maintains that it will be worth it as it looks to earn the global prestige and respect that it feels that top-class sport can bring.

Can it happen? A personal view, strengthened last night by several influential figures in European football, is that this is an even more wildly over-ambitious project than Qatar’s bewilderingly successful bid to host the World Cup.

In awarding the 2022 tournament to Qatar, Fifa showed that it could be “bought” — the word that Jerôme Valcke, the organisation’s general secretary, used in a leaked e-mail in 2011, explaining that it related only to his belief that the nation “used its financial strength to lobby for support”.

The word within European football’s corridors of power last night was that the club game cannot — will not — be bought. The objections expressed by prominent figures were diverse. First came the practical objections: about the timing of any such tournament; about the idea of holding it every two years in the same neutral venue, hardly renowned as a hotbed of football, which, might make it, like the present Club World Cup, a far less appealing prospect than it should be; about the demands on leading players.

Then there were the other issues. One leading figure expressed doubts that clubs could commit to something like this without severe repercussions for the domestic leagues and for the existing Uefa club competition structure. Another, at one of the wealthiest clubs, pointed out that it would be unsatisfactory for the gap between the rich and the poor to become any wider than it already is.

In Doha, they are unmoved. They maintain that the project will earn support — and not just from PSG, who are owned by Qatar Sports Investment (QSI), or Barcelona, who, after years of eschewing shirt sponsorship deals, succumbed to the richest on offer from the Qatar Foundation before preparing to switch next season to Qatar Airways.

In Qatar, they get the distinct impression that football is available to the highest bidder — and that the European club game would uproot from Europe, at least for a month or so every other year, if the price was right. And if the prices being mooted last night are anything to go by, there will be some clubs who will be lobbying for others to sign up to the DFL project.

Something will come of this. It will almost certainly not, for now, be the Qatari vision of all the world’s great clubs playing under one air-conditioned roof in the summer of 2015, but at very least this looks like a strong power-play from a country whose ambition seems to know no bounds.

It remains to be seen how the DFL proposals will be greeted by Fifa and Uefa; Qatar, as a force in football, is effectively a monster that they created. Fifa’s executive voted, against the advice of their own evaluation reports, to hold the 2022 World Cup there, with their backers including Michel Platini, the Uefa president, after he was invited for dinner with the Emir of Qatar by former French President Sarkozy.

The first thoughts of Platini and Sepp Blatter, the Fifa president, are likely to be about how they can use this latest Qatari proposal to strengthen their campaign for what is shaping, below the surface, into an increasingly bitter battle for the Fifa presidency in 2015.

More than one source suggested last night that Qatar’s latest project might, in part, be an effort to try to “buy off” the European clubs in order to reduce opposition to the 2022 World Cup, having already tried to sell the idea to the ECA at its general assembly in Doha last month. But the same people supposed that the Qatar 2022 bid was merely about trying to make a nation trying to make its presence felt as part of a wider political goal.

As has been shown, Qatar’s goals — and the budgets and the determination with which it pursues them — are bigger than anyone imagined.

Raising the temperature

24 Clubs from around the world competing in a tournament every two years

16 “Permanent” members. Eight places will be distributed on an invitational basis

£175m Prize money proposed to each participating club per two-year tournament cycle

40C Expected minimum temperature in Qatar in the summer months

Q&A

Who would be invited?

According to the initial proposals, 24 clubs — 16 on a permanent basis and eight on an invitational basis. As for which clubs, Paris Saint-Germain, owned by the Qatar Investment Authority, are prime movers behind the project, but Dream Football League (DFL) expect the 16 “permanent” memberships to be highly coveted.
The DFL idea is that all of the most prestigious and powerful clubs in world football take part. No leading English club expressed support for the idea last night, with two privately expressing concern about any threat to the existing Uefa club structure, but DFL would hope to entice four from Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur. It remains to be seen whether Celtic or Rangers, both of whom have huge fanbases worldwide, would be invited.

When would the tournament take place?

In every odd-numbered year — and, in a clear effort by Qatar to overcome concerns about player and supporter safety at the 2022 World Cup finals, the plan is for it to take place in the summer months. If this proposal were successful, it would cause disruption to the Fifa international calendar as it stands. While there is a two-year gap between the European Championship and World Cup cycles, this would have a serious impact on tournaments in other federations, such as Africa, Asia and North and South America.

How can a tournament happen in Qatar in the summer?

The plan, as with 2022, is to combat the 40-degree summer heat with use of air-conditioning, not just in the stadiums but in the public areas in all host cities. Qatar, in particular, plan to convince the world that their climate-control technology can eliminate the health concerns spelt out by Fifa’s inspectors in their evaluation report prior to the executive committee’s controversial vote to stage the 2022 World Cup finals there.

Why would Qatar be so desperate to invest such incredible sums in a non-prestigious tournament?

Because they believe that prestige — not just for the tournament but for themselves as a a hub of world sport and, from there, as an economy that can thrive beyond its natural gas resources — can be bought.

What would be the consequences for club signing up to this project?

If the timing of the tournament conflicted with existing Fifa, Uefa or domestic competitions, clubs would almost certainly be threatened with serious consequences if they took part.
Does this stand a chance of happening?
DFL’s vision of Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, AC Milan and United going hell for leather in the heat of Doha seems far-fetched, but the money involved will turn heads. In Qatar, they believe that everything, particularly in football, is available for a price.

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/sport/football/europe/article3712126.ece

Bloody well hope not. As if there wasn't enough money going around football. I would expect the corporate soulless meaningless clubs to participate (Manchester United, Chelsea) but I would much prefer dignity over this pile of crap.

I say we take the 175 and send our reserves to the games

I say F**k off with your "dream" league

will definitely need more info before i can make a conclusion on this whether it is good or not.  but one thing that does kind of pop out at me is that potential huge sums of $$.  with FFP rules coming in, this might be the big clubs' moonlight tournament to keep them ahead of the rest.  plus with a squad like Real Madrid or even Manure where their bench is very deep, this is another good opportunity to not only make some serious $$ but to keep all players happy with game time.  As with things now, resource management (specifically players) will be vital.

However, looking at this on the flip side... that will also probably spell the doom for smaller stuff like the league cup etc.... i mean sure it will still be around but it'll be further down the pecking order for the clubs that actually brings TV ratings.

i am a bit skeptical if this can be a reality tho.  but time will tell

[quote author=stephenmc9 link=topic=44549.msg1442961#msg1442961 date=1363140401]
Sheikhs to change the face of world football....Just read this and was wondering what impact this would have on world football.I am not big on how much money is in the middle east i do think this would be a crazy move:)

The Times Exclusive: Absolutely Fascinating - Sheikhs to change the face of world football

The world’s leading football clubs are to be offered enormous financial inducements to participate in a 24-team tournament every two years in Qatar and neighbouring Gulf states, The Times has learnt.

Backed by the Qatari royal family, the self-styled “Dream Football League” (DFL) will release plans next month for a new club tournament that it hopes to establish as a rival to the Champions League and the Club World Cup.

The move, the latest stage of Qatar’s bid to establish itself as a dominant player in world football, represents a clear threat to the existing powerbases of Fifa, football’s world governing body, and Uefa, its European counterpart.

It remains to be seen which, if any, Barclays Premier League clubs will sign up for the project, but DFL is prepared to offer elite clubs such as Barcelona and Manchester United an astonishing €200 million (about £175 million) per two-year cycle in an attempt to gain support.

Its plan is to have four of England’s most prestigious clubs among 16 “permanent” DFL members, with a further eight global clubs competing on an invitational basis.

The project is being driven from Doha and Paris after the recent takeover of Paris Saint-Germain by Qatar Sports Investment (QSI).
Qatar is eager to win the full support of the increasingly influential European Club Association (ECA), which is involved in a continuing power struggle with Uefa and Fifa, but the recent ECA general assembly, held in Doha, featured a stern warning from Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, the chairman, to PSG about the French club’s aggressive attempts to win power and influence among the game’s elite.

If successful, the idea — which would feature the first tournament held across the region in the summer of 2015 — would change the face of world football, not least in widening the gap between the richest clubs and the rest.

The sums under discussion would dwarf those in the Champions League, which has an annual prize fund of £595 million. Chelsea won £47.3 million as European champions last season.

DFL’s idea is that the sums involved would lead clubs to make the tournament their top priority, even ahead of the Champions League and their domestic leagues, particularly in an era in which additional revenue will help clubs such as PSG and Manchester City, respectively owned by sovereign wealth funds in Qatar and Abu Dhabi, to overcome Uefa’s new “financial fair play” regulations.

The idea of holding the tournament in the summer is a key part of Qatar’s strategy. Having encountered widespread objections to its controversial plans to host the 2022 World Cup finals in summer, when temperatures soar beyond 40C (104F), Qatar aims to demonstrate that it can, with the backing of the most powerful clubs, overcome concerns about player and spectator safety with the use of air conditioning not just in the stadiums but throughout all host cities.

DFL plans to hold the tournament not only in Qatar but in six cities across the Gulf, with venues in Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and possibly Saudi Arabia.
Officials from Uefa and the Premier League declined to comment on the DFL proposals last night. The ECA did not respond to inquiries.

Leading figures from Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City and Manchester United also declined to respond, although some privately expressed full support for the existing competition in club football while saying that they had not heard of the DFL proposals.

The existing European club competition structure has been far more stable since Uefa reacted to the “Media Partners” breakaway league threat of the 1990s by expanding the Champions League, but there have been renewed discussions in recent years about the idea of creating a competition whereby the elite clubs play each other more often than the present arrangements allow.

Florentino Pérez, the Real Madrid president, said in 2009 that it was time to push for “a new European super league, which guarantees that the best always play the best, which does not happen in the Champions League”.

At very least, it is possible that there will be a desire among the clubs to use the interest from Qatar to push for changes to the existing Champions League and Europa League structure and to the financial rewards that are involved.

But in Qatar they are serious about the DFL proposal.
As one source close to the project said: “These people have already shown that, if they want something to happen, they will throw enough money at it to make it happen. And the football industry has shown that everything can be bought for the right price.”

Oliver Kay: Shifting sands that could transform the global football map

Be afraid. Be very afraid. If you were already worried that modern sport was at risk of selling its soul to the highest bidder, prepare for the Qatari vision of football in 2015.

It is a vision of a Champions League-style tournament taking place in Doha and other cities across the Gulf region in the searing heat of summer — but with air-conditioning technology in use not only in the stadiums but, in the interests of supporter safety, in public areas across the cities. And it is a vision that Dream Football League (DFL) hopes to persuade every leading club on the planet to buy into — and is prepared to offer inducements of up to £175 million for them to sign up for the first two-year tournament cycle.

Two of the most influential administrators in English football expressed horror last night, when the latest proposals emerging from Doha were put to them. They maintained that, in the course of discussions with Uefa and with the European Club Association (ECA), the specific DFL proposals had not yet come up.

But as one of them said, while declining to comment publicly: “I’m not surprised. The Qataris are putting an incredible amount of money into football in all kinds of directions — not just to Paris Saint-Germain, not just to Barcelona with their shirt-sponsorship deal. What they don’t seem to realise is that it’s going to be extraordinarily difficult to pull something like that together.”

So why are they even trying? Why is a desert nation with a population of less than two million, willing to spend such mind-boggling sums in an attempt to add club football to a portfolio of sporting events that already includes ATP and WTA tennis tournaments, the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters golf, an IAAF Diamond League athletics meeting and other equestrian and motor sport events as well as, most prestigious of all, the 2022 World Cup?

The answer is that Qatar wants more. It wants all the sport that it can get its hands on. And if it costs it hundreds upon hundreds upon hundreds of millions of pounds even to stage one tournament, it maintains that it will be worth it as it looks to earn the global prestige and respect that it feels that top-class sport can bring.

Can it happen? A personal view, strengthened last night by several influential figures in European football, is that this is an even more wildly over-ambitious project than Qatar’s bewilderingly successful bid to host the World Cup.

In awarding the 2022 tournament to Qatar, Fifa showed that it could be “bought” — the word that Jerôme Valcke, the organisation’s general secretary, used in a leaked e-mail in 2011, explaining that it related only to his belief that the nation “used its financial strength to lobby for support”.

The word within European football’s corridors of power last night was that the club game cannot — will not — be bought. The objections expressed by prominent figures were diverse. First came the practical objections: about the timing of any such tournament; about the idea of holding it every two years in the same neutral venue, hardly renowned as a hotbed of football, which, might make it, like the present Club World Cup, a far less appealing prospect than it should be; about the demands on leading players.

Then there were the other issues. One leading figure expressed doubts that clubs could commit to something like this without severe repercussions for the domestic leagues and for the existing Uefa club competition structure. Another, at one of the wealthiest clubs, pointed out that it would be unsatisfactory for the gap between the rich and the poor to become any wider than it already is.

In Doha, they are unmoved. They maintain that the project will earn support — and not just from PSG, who are owned by Qatar Sports Investment (QSI), or Barcelona, who, after years of eschewing shirt sponsorship deals, succumbed to the richest on offer from the Qatar Foundation before preparing to switch next season to Qatar Airways.

In Qatar, they get the distinct impression that football is available to the highest bidder — and that the European club game would uproot from Europe, at least for a month or so every other year, if the price was right. And if the prices being mooted last night are anything to go by, there will be some clubs who will be lobbying for others to sign up to the DFL project.

Something will come of this. It will almost certainly not, for now, be the Qatari vision of all the world’s great clubs playing under one air-conditioned roof in the summer of 2015, but at very least this looks like a strong power-play from a country whose ambition seems to know no bounds.

It remains to be seen how the DFL proposals will be greeted by Fifa and Uefa; Qatar, as a force in football, is effectively a monster that they created. Fifa’s executive voted, against the advice of their own evaluation reports, to hold the 2022 World Cup there, with their backers including Michel Platini, the Uefa president, after he was invited for dinner with the Emir of Qatar by former French President Sarkozy.

The first thoughts of Platini and Sepp Blatter, the Fifa president, are likely to be about how they can use this latest Qatari proposal to strengthen their campaign for what is shaping, below the surface, into an increasingly bitter battle for the Fifa presidency in 2015.

More than one source suggested last night that Qatar’s latest project might, in part, be an effort to try to “buy off” the European clubs in order to reduce opposition to the 2022 World Cup, having already tried to sell the idea to the ECA at its general assembly in Doha last month. But the same people supposed that the Qatar 2022 bid was merely about trying to make a nation trying to make its presence felt as part of a wider political goal.

As has been shown, Qatar’s goals — and the budgets and the determination with which it pursues them — are bigger than anyone imagined.

Raising the temperature

24 Clubs from around the world competing in a tournament every two years

16 “Permanent” members. Eight places will be distributed on an invitational basis

£175m Prize money proposed to each participating club per two-year tournament cycle

40C Expected minimum temperature in Qatar in the summer months

Q&A

Who would be invited?

According to the initial proposals, 24 clubs — 16 on a permanent basis and eight on an invitational basis. As for which clubs, Paris Saint-Germain, owned by the Qatar Investment Authority, are prime movers behind the project, but Dream Football League (DFL) expect the 16 “permanent” memberships to be highly coveted.
The DFL idea is that all of the most prestigious and powerful clubs in world football take part. No leading English club expressed support for the idea last night, with two privately expressing concern about any threat to the existing Uefa club structure, but DFL would hope to entice four from Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur. It remains to be seen whether Celtic or Rangers, both of whom have huge fanbases worldwide, would be invited.

When would the tournament take place?

In every odd-numbered year — and, in a clear effort by Qatar to overcome concerns about player and supporter safety at the 2022 World Cup finals, the plan is for it to take place in the summer months. If this proposal were successful, it would cause disruption to the Fifa international calendar as it stands. While there is a two-year gap between the European Championship and World Cup cycles, this would have a serious impact on tournaments in other federations, such as Africa, Asia and North and South America.

How can a tournament happen in Qatar in the summer?

The plan, as with 2022, is to combat the 40-degree summer heat with use of air-conditioning, not just in the stadiums but in the public areas in all host cities. Qatar, in particular, plan to convince the world that their climate-control technology can eliminate the health concerns spelt out by Fifa’s inspectors in their evaluation report prior to the executive committee’s controversial vote to stage the 2022 World Cup finals there.

Why would Qatar be so desperate to invest such incredible sums in a non-prestigious tournament?

Because they believe that prestige — not just for the tournament but for themselves as a a hub of world sport and, from there, as an economy that can thrive beyond its natural gas resources — can be bought.

What would be the consequences for club signing up to this project?

If the timing of the tournament conflicted with existing Fifa, Uefa or domestic competitions, clubs would almost certainly be threatened with serious consequences if they took part.
Does this stand a chance of happening?
DFL’s vision of Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, AC Milan and United going hell for leather in the heat of Doha seems far-fetched, but the money involved will turn heads. In Qatar, they believe that everything, particularly in football, is available for a price.

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/sport/football/europe/article3712126.ece
[/quote]

F**k. If this happens, all big clubs will tell F**k off to FFP. And we are doomed.

We are a big club and more than likely would be included. Especially if BR continues moving us in the right direction. We are certainly bigger than several of the clubs listed in the article.

Can't see it and probably one for The General Football Thread.

MO MONEY.


Thats just what the game needs.
Trying to get a level playing field of Fair Play and Fair Rules and this crap comes along.
Any PL club will be able to play a 17 year old trainee 100,000 pounds a month and all the lunacy that goes with it.

Insanity.

It's complete bullshit, trust me on this one.

Sounds like a PR move to show they're ready for 2022 World Cup.

Sounds like a blagged up version of the bullshit European league that some people like to throw up every now and then.

Agree with Fatkopite, pure bullshit.

Wouldn't be in favour of this as it needs a solid structure to build from ie UEFA so better to let them that know how to run it albiet not exempt from criticism every now & again.

But with the likes of Qatar & their money...it's just a mirage in their desert!

But don't be surprised to see friendly competitions over there with about 16-24 top europeans teams all competing for the top prize of €50m over the next few summers! Money does talk!

Would hate to see this happen, but it would be hard to turn down that money, especially if your rivals are willing to take part

Here's a thought though!...I would assume that UEFA/FIFA would be aghast of Qatar's money games if it happens, would the referees/other officials be allowed to participate without sanctions from them?

I might be paranoid, but could this not be another scheme to circumvent the financial fair play regulations for some clubs? Man City, PSG.. But even Barcelona are sponsored by Qatar..

I might be paranoid, but could this not be another scheme to circumvent the financial fair play regulations for some clubs? Man City, PSG.. But even Barcelona are sponsored by Qatar..

Wouldn't be surprised, pal!

I might be paranoid, but could this not be another scheme to circumvent the financial fair play regulations for some clubs? Man City, PSG.. But even Barcelona are sponsored by Qatar..

thats exactly what some of us are saying.  under FFP you are limited to what you can spend according to the revenues you generate.  A new $$ tourny like this will help big clubs keep a head above the rest.

Listen, unless teams want to get fu**ed out of the premier league, the champions league and all related competitions, this will never happen.
You can add players having to give up playing for their countries to that as well.

It'll never happen.
They may well be trying to plan something, but that doesn't mean it will happen, and there's no way the FA, UEFA and FIFA will let anyone interfere with their cash cows.

It will never happen. But if it does, happen, Liverpool should be a part of it, simply because teams that dont will not be able to compete against clubs that do (economically) .

Actually, i would like to see a league featuring top clubs of Italy, Spain, Germany, France and England + Ajax and PSV. No way UEFA would allow it

The fans will all completely hate the idea, as will the managers but the money men running the clubs will all be trying to figure out a way to make it happen. FIFA created this fuc....king monster so it's all their own fault. Blatter and his notions of taking football to every corner of the earth. The man's a fookin idiot along with that clown Platini.

Qatar Football Association denies plans for 'Dream Football League'

The Qatar FA (QFA) has distanced itself from reports that they will offer the world's biggest football clubs money to play in a glittering summer tournament.

A report in The Times  said plans were in place for a 24-team "Dream Football League" (DFL), to rival the Champions League.

However, Qatar has denied the claims.

"The Qatar FA and other Qatari football entities can categorically confirm that we have no involvement in any such initiative," a statement read.

"And we have heard nothing to suggest such a concept is genuine," it added.

The report claimed clubs including Barcelona and Manchester United would be offered around £175m to appear in the tournament in alternating summers, with four of England's leading clubs invited to participate.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/21775720

I say we take the 175 and send our reserves to the games

If that were possible that would be boss! but it wouldn't be.

It will fk up the football world even more. NO!

Just another Trophy to add to our bulging Cabinet.