Sheikhs to change the face of world football

Let ManU Mancity chelsea and arsenal go to this new league. then we can win the premier league for the next 10 years running

It's a hoax!

Times defends Qatar 'dream league' story after media storm

Britain's Times newspaper has launched a spirited defence of its story that Qatar is to launch a "Dream Football League" after a French website said the scoop was based on its own spoof and that the paper had been the victim of a hoax. The Qatar Football Association denied having any involvement in such a league.

Les Cahiers du Football (www.cahiersdufootball.net) said it published the fake report by "Agence Transe Presse" on Monday, saying that 2022 World Cup hosts Qatar would launch the money-spinning league involving Europe's leading clubs by 2015.

The website's report contained quotes from Bonnie Pascal-Fasse - for French readers an obvious play on words on French political scientist Pascal Boniface - saying that soccer was not just "a diplomatic tool" but an "end in itself".

"It all came out of my imagination," Jerome Latta, the editor of Les Cahiers du Football told Reuters. "But the fact that it made its way to the mainstream press is quite significant."

The Qatar Football Association also issued a statement saying: "With regard to the story published in today's edition of The Times newspaper concerning a 'Dreams Football League,' the Qatar Football Association and other Qatari football entities can categorically confirm that we have no involvement in any such initiative and has heard nothing to suggest such a concept is genuine."

The newspaper, however, stood by its Wednesday story, saying it had nothing to do with the website version and was based on research by its own reporter, chief soccer correspondent Oliver Kay, going back "quite a while".

"I've been amused by the speculation about the source of this story," Kay told Reuters after a day of intense internet claim and counter-claim.

"I can guarantee you 100 percent, 1,000 percent, 175 million percent, that my story had nothing to do with any website, spoof or otherwise.

"I've no idea about their modus operandi. What I know is that my source is very good, the information is very good and that there is more where that story came from."

Tony Evans, Football Editor of The Times, said the speculation was wide of the mark.

"As far as we are concerned the story is true and we stand by it," he told Reuters. "Oliver Kay is an exceptionally good journalist who is unlikely to have fallen for a hoax story on a spoof website.

"He obtained the information after speaking to powerful people in football and after doing his groundwork. He has been working on it for quite a while and there is no reason to doubt he will be fully vindicated."

The supposed 24-team league, featuring 16 permanent sides including Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal and Paris St Germain as well as eight "invitees", would be played in Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and United Arab Emirates.

The spoof French website report said players, who would earn three to four times what they currently earn, would live on artificial peninsulas where "laws and morals of the continent" would not exist.

It also said that the games would be visible by hologram in the "local stadiums" in Europe, adding that the roars of fans sitting at Old Trafford would be heard in the Gulf stadium where a United game would be played - this being possible as of 2016 thanks to the "Qatar Technologies Institute".

A source close to the Qataris told Reuters he had "seen no evidence of it" when asked if the league was a real proposition from the hugely wealthy Gulf nation.

Whatever the source for the story, Kay said he hoped the plan did not come to fruition.

"As for the idea itself I hope it doesn't get off the ground," he said. "It would be terrible for football and, above all, for fans."


http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/feedarticle/10699067c

I feel for Oliver Kay. The LAST place you want to be if you're a journalist.

What a tit.

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

Bugger it, why not a whole South & Central American League, chuck in the yanks when they get good enough.  In fact, why not a global league? 

Bugger it, why not a whole Soyh & Central American League, chuck in the yanks when they get good enough.  In fact, why not a global league? 

Yeh Rodders.
Bring in the Yanks and within two weeks they will be calling it the World Series with only them playing in it !
(With apologies to our colonial forum members)

Would ruin football. Stupid idea and stupid money!

Sounds like a power struggle and those that put up more money will win the battle . We all knew that ffp was sowering relations with certain clubs like psg , malaga , city, and uefa . This could easily put the wind up uefa to back down on ffp . after all city have shown how easy it is to get around the rules.

Tony Evans in The Times:


There are times when all you can do is admit you were wrong. Last week, Times football ran a story that we thought was a blockbuster. The state of Qatar was proposing a new summer tournament that would offer stunning financial rewards to the teams who participated.

It was a horrible prospect that threatened to transform the sport but appeared to be a brilliant story. The Dream Football League (DFL) would turn into a journalistic nightmare.

How it came about tells you something about the state of the game and the difficulties of football journalism. Oliver Kay developed a relationship with a contact who appeared to be connected with the Qatari ownership at Paris Saint-Germain.

Over the months, this contact provided information that subsequently turned out to be right. Kay did not use any of this knowledge because he could not back it up with secondary sources. However, each time a tip-off turned into a fact, an element of trust grew.

After the event, it is easy to look into the background of an individual and proclaim that minimal research would have unmasked an unreliable source. This is to misunderstand the world of football. All kinds of chancers attach themselves to the game. As the sport becomes ever more bloated by money, these dubious characters are drawn to the periphery of the game, attracted by the opportunity of a share of the cash.

It is not unusual for football journalists to have a contact whose past looks murky under close scrutiny. Some turn out to be useful sources of information, some to be not quite what they seem. Even then, it does not always mean that they are wrong. This means that every story needs checking. Much was plausible about the suggestions that Qatar was planning a new tournament. The Gulf state has become a serious player on the world scene over the past decade and is keen to continue developing its role in football. Plans to gather the game’s top teams in the Middle East have been mooted before. If any nation has the resources to pull off this sort of competition, it is Qatar.

Kay began to call some of Europe’s biggest clubs. The answers were off the record and fell into two categories. Some made it clear that they had no knowledge of the concept. The others said, yes, they had heard talk about such an idea, yes, £175 million was about the figure mentioned but, no, they did not think it was going to happen and could not see themselves being involved.

These secondary sources treated the questions seriously. And here is where The Times made a massive mistake. Because so many significant people in football did not laugh off the idea, it seemed that the story could be genuine.

The warning signs — that no one had heard specific details of the DFL or seen its plans — were missed. In principle, the idea was possible. There were plenty to attest to that.

In reality, the story appears to have been invented and had just enough plausibility to be seductive.

Initially, The Times launched a strong defence of the story and the reporter. However, the paper also launched an investigation by its internal ombudsman.

Over the three days that followed the publication of the story, it appeared increasingly clear that Kay and the paper had been duped. And that the checks from the office in London had not been stringent enough in the rush to publication.

This is an unusual situation. Normally, when a story is disputed, lawyers become involved. Individuals and organisations demand retractions and writs are issued. Here, it did not happen. It would have been possible to ride out the storm, tell the world that time would vindicate the newspaper and allow memories of the furore to fade away.

But that is not how The Times does things. We value our reputation. There will be changes now to the way we operate, and an extra level of scepticism will be incorporated into our working practices.

But one thing will not change. If we get it wrong, we will hold our hands up and admit it.

 Got to admire his honesty I suppose.

Got to admire his honesty I suppose.

Er no, he ran a story that was run by a satirical french magazine that they said was complete rubbish. It's not the first time with the Times, look back at the liverpool ownership story that they ran with, it just says a lot about the standard of journalism today

Er no, he ran a story that was run by a satirical french magazine that they said was complete rubbish. It's not the first time with the Times, look back at the liverpool ownership story that they ran with, it just says a lot about the standard of journalism today

As in there is no journalism in this country any more. If it sounds sensational it gets published irrespective of whether it has a shred of credibility.

How weird is that, sat here in a Mall in Dubai and go online for the first time since leaving Liverpool and hit this thread, Qatar isn't too far away and the interest in footy here has really increased with their coverage and general interest so I imagine Qatar is the same. Really can't see them jumping in at the deep end tho, remember all that stuff about Sheik Mohammed of UAE buying LFC and that was pure horseshit - just like this story.

How weird is that, sat here in a Mall in Dubai and go online for the first time since leaving Liverpool and hit this thread, Qatar isn't too far away and the interest in footy here has really increased with their coverage and general interest so I imagine Qatar is the same. Really can't see them jumping in at the deep end tho, remember all that stuff about Sheik Mohammed of UAE buying LFC and that was pure horseshit - just like this story.

Enjoy the sun Stuey .

Enjoy the sun Stuey .

It was brilliant mate thanks. Was watching another game near the apartment with the local lads, some of who were playing in their bare feet, some of the skill was a joy to watch.