Brexit Factor enabled Boris to batter European Super League
'It felt like there was a Brexit factor to the way the British Government reacted and the threat they posed to the English clubs.'
'They could act swiftly and take decisions almost immediately – and they carried more authority.'
That’s the view of a UEFA insider who lauded the way Boris Johnson weighed in against the proposed European Super League which would have seen six teams from England abandon the Champions League and Europa League and take part in an unsanctioned, no-relegation competition against clubs from Spain and Italy.
The proposed Super League, which involved Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur - all of which have wealthy foreign owners - fell apart last week amid a ferocious response from fans, players, officials and politicians led by the Prime Minister who said that the plan would 'strike at the heart of the domestic game'.
Mr Johnson threatened to unleash a ‘'legislative bomb'. This was interpreted as a threat to introduce German-style ownership rules where fans own 51 percent of clubs.
The wayward English clubs quickly abandoned the ESL proposal fearful that Johnson would order a clampdown on work permits for foreign players, impose new taxes and change competition law.
“Having seen the Brexit negotiations, they knew that Johnson was capable of doing previously unthinkable things like that to court popularity,' said the UEFA source.
