Claudio Ranieri has insisted proposals over a new European Super League show weakness from the established elite and any such competition would run contrary to the spirit of sport.
Executives from Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United, Manchester City and Liverpool this week held talks in London with Charlie Stillitano, an American businessman keen to set up a Champions League rival reserved for the continent’ s richest clubs.
Stillitano has suggested that Premier League leaders Leicester, nor other clubs outside those traditionally involved at Europe’s top end, would be required to generate revenue.
Ranieri joked that ‘maybe next time our sporting director will also be there’ then made a passionate argument against any closed-shop breakaway.
‘People must think what the fans want, not only about money,’ said the Italian. ‘Because culture and the fans are more important than other things.
‘All the fans want sport to be very clear, for there to be respect for everybody. I understand the bigger teams want to be sure to get money and don’t want to lose one year without Champions League. But this is sport.
‘You can imagine there is a Super League and then there are other teams who won the league. It’s not so good. It’s good that there is big competition. You have to deserve the Champions League.
‘For one year you don’t achieve this, you want to make something different? I think its not right. You are afraid. You are not strong. You are afraid to lose money. Its not good for the sport. Because after what happens? There are four or five teams from each country, and the rest, what do they do?
‘I understand they want to do something but if something strange happens, don’t blame the little teams. They have to blame themselves. Maybe they have a good idea. But they should ask: “Why is a little team like Leicester doing better than us?”‘
Gary Lineker’s long-time agent Jon Holmes, a Leicester fan, also launched a passionate defence of the current system, claiming United is a club run by ‘people who care only for personal wealth or self-aggrandisement’.
In an open letter that was re-tweeted by Lineker, Holmes wrote: ‘English football is popular around the world because of its supporters and the intensity of their support. Supporting a club like Leicester rather than a brand like Man U is a statement of where you come from and what you are, not an allegiance to a transferrable affection for a particular kind of toothpaste.’
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