European club elite set to expand

Fourteen of the biggest soccer clubs in Europe are meeting in Milan today and are likely to welcome up to 10 more clubs into their 'economic interest group', the G14. Once a secretive self-appointed elite, the G14 has come out into the open in the past year -- adopting a formal constitution, establishing offices in the Brussels, appointing a full-time general secretary and inviting marketing companies to bid for a contract to 'brand' the organisation.

That the man they appointed as their public face, Swiss lawyer Thomas Kurth, was formerly head of UEFA's
Competitions' Department -- mainly responsible for the logistics of running the Champions League -- has not allayed fears at UEFA that the G14 is a thinly disguised breakaway superleague in waiting.

It was a threatened breakaway by the top clubs proposed by Italian company Media Partners in 1999 that forged the
links between the clubs wich developed into the G14.

The possibility of a revolt by those clubs -- Manchester United, Liverpool, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus, AC
Milan, Inter Milan, Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Olympique Marseille, Paris St Germain, Ajax, PSV Eindhoven,
FC Porto -- was quelled by the accession to their demands for an expansion of the Champions League, the move to
two group stages and a bigger share of the revenue for the clubs. But the clubs retained their ties and formalised the arrangement in September last year, paving the way for their involvement in the talks between soccer authorities and the European Commission over transfer legislation in January.

The poaching of Kurth last year was not exactly welcomed by UEFA and Chief Executive secretary Gerhard Aigner
faxed a letter to the clubs involved threatening them with expulsion from UEFA, which would have meant isolation from national and international soccer for the clubs and their players. UEFA has since come to terms with G14, helped by the unconfrontational style of Kurth, but will keep a keen eye on what decisions are made at the general assembly on Tuesday.

Rangers, Lazio, Roma, Parma, Hertha Berlin, Chelsea, Celtic and Sporting Lisbon are thought to have expressed an
interest in joining, while Arsenal and Anderlecht have been told an application would be viewed favourably.

Bigger slice

It is appropriate that the G14 meeting is taking place on the eve of the Champions League final between Valencia and Bayern Munich in Milan. As an economic interest group they are mostly concerned with securing a bigger slice of the revenue from Europe's premier competition for the clubs. Currently they receive about 75 percent of the income, their share varying according to their progress in the competition.

Last year's champions Real Madrid received around $26 million, while the quarter-finalists got around $20 million each. But the spiralling costs of transfer fees and players' wages and the feeling among some clubs that the television rights -- currently worth $475 million a year, compared to $777 million for the English premier league rights next season -- could generate even greater revenue.

The clubs -- many of which, like Real Madrid, are kept in business by extraordinarily high borrowings -- also want ensure that a single poor domestic season does not keep them out of the lucrative league. For example, Marseille, Paris St Germain and Inter Milan -- all huge spenders in the transfer market -- are certain not to be involved in the Champions League next season.

Hence the demand for the expansion of the Champions League to 32 teams two years ago. The G14 are now calling
for the second group stage to be dumped as a guard against flagging spectator interest in the early games, but without any reduction in the amount of money they make.

UEFA president Lennart Johansson said in May that he thought the best way to revive interest in the early games was to return to the days when only the champions of each nation qualified, which would be opposed by the G14. The G14 also suggested last year that clubs would qualify by virtue of their historical record in European competition, regardless of how they had fared in the previous season at home.

UEFA fears

But UEFA fears that the G14 may go out on their own may be endowing the G14 with more unity of purpose than actually exists. Although the Italian and Spanish clubs have been more aggressive in their stance, clubs like Manchester United see it more as a lobby group. They view it as a way get the best possible deal for the big clubs from UEFA, to fight on their behalf in the battle over the release of players for international duty and a possible platform for collective TV deals. As Anderlecht manager Michael Versheuren said when the Belgian champions were invited to join the group in January. "For years, UEFA has dominated European football. It's normal that football clubs of a certain level seek closer ties with each other. That doesn't mean we are disloyal to UEFA."