UEFA has built football’s apartheid system – now it wants to play savior

As I sat in the Olympic Stadium in Athens on Thursday night, I would like to say I felt the hand of history on my shoulder, but instead I felt a sick feeling in my stomach at how European football has been irreversibly damaged by the holier than thou brigade at UEFA.

UEFA, the governing body for football in Europe and subordinate only to global overseer FIFA and to the richest clubs on the continent, has effectively created a full-on apartheid system that sees the rich get even richer and their power increasingly unchecked. And they showed their power in beating back FIFA’s bid to commercialize their biggest cash cow: the World Cup.

Greek (and not just) tragedy

In 1971, Panathinaikos made it to the final of the European Champions Cup, the previous name of the UEFA Champions League. The first and only Greek club to do so, they lost 2-0 to mighty Ajax of Amsterdam, who at the time were in their pomp with the late Johan Cruyff. The Greeks subsequently made two semifinals, in 1985 and 1996, but on Thursday played in the continent’s third tier competition, the UEFA Conference League. If the capital club go on to win this year’s competition, they will receive €7 million, not a sum to be sniffed at. However, the club that wins the Champions League takes home €25 million. That is only for winning the whole thing and doesn’t include prize money for earlier wins etc., but you kind of get the divide that UEFA has deliberately created.

I write this because right now Europe’s governing body brought hellfire down on FIFA for a number of reasons and they’re all false, spurious, and downright deceptive.