Consigliere Posted August 18, 2023 Share Posted August 18, 2023 (edited) Australia switched confederations from OFC to AFC. It can be done. However, as I said, Saudi Arabia are extremely unlikely to go down that route as their NT would not qualify for a major tournament for a very, very long time playing in UEFA qualifiers. Edited August 18, 2023 by Consigliere Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baxus Posted August 18, 2023 Share Posted August 18, 2023 Australia switched confederations because it benefited everyone involved - Australia would get a higher level opponents while still being able to qualify for World Cup, AFC would get another WC level team which in the long term would help them increase the level of competition and gain more WC spots, while the rest of OFC would no longer have that one juggernaut who would smack everyone (except maybe New Zealand) around, walk through the qualifiers and ruin everyone's motivation to even take part. Saudis to Europe would be nowhere near that, and it would significantly complicate things, especially for teams from smaller FAs. Just getting their team to Saudi Arabia would be pretty challenging for Faroe Islands, for example. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soylent Brown Posted August 18, 2023 Share Posted August 18, 2023 Wouldn't Saudi clubs have to adhere to FFP rules if they were to join UEFA? Haha. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Consigliere Posted August 18, 2023 Share Posted August 18, 2023 (edited) Saudi Arabia would not join UEFA anyway so there's no point discussing further. Saudi Arabia are one of the stronger sides in AFC and with the expanded WC, they are practically guaranteed qualification. The 4-year club coefficient also ranks the Saudi Pro League as the #1 league in AFC. They aren't going to give up that status. That's why the rumours have been about them trying to weasel their way into getting a wild card entry to the CL but the ECA will never allow that. Edited August 18, 2023 by Consigliere Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Sunland Lord Posted August 18, 2023 Share Posted August 18, 2023 1 hour ago, baxus said: Why would UEFA take them in as new members? The only UEFA members outside of Europe are FAs from former Soviet Union republics who were considered as members of UEFA by default after Soviet Union collapsed, and Israel, for obvious reasons. Plus Turkey, its lion share of territory is geographically in Asia. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigFatCoward Posted August 18, 2023 Author Share Posted August 18, 2023 On Lewis Hall, the Chelsea fans online are doing their nut online about them getting rid, that's enough of an endorsement for me. Notwithstanding that this thread shows that Chelsea fans know fuck all about football. baxus 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Sunland Lord Posted August 18, 2023 Share Posted August 18, 2023 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tywin et al. Posted August 18, 2023 Share Posted August 18, 2023 2 hours ago, baxus said: Football supporters are not the same as their golf counterparts. Are there really golf counterparts? In the end, the money in football comes from supporters. If supporters go away, the sponsors, broadcast money etc. will soon follow. Were you around when that Superleague attempt was made? The Super League is what caused my posting in these threads to go up. I find sports business to be as fascinating as the games themselves. The problem with the SL is the powers at be tried to completely change the system and did so with a giant fuck you. If they had not done the latter maybe it could have worked, or at least they could have laid the groundwork for it happening in the future. At the end of the day every sports league is a business. A former president of a MLB team that I actually got to interview with said he didn't want Qatari money for a sponsorship, but if they paid two or three times what he was asking for he'd have no choice. NFL and NBA teams are starting to warm up to the petrol dollars. That same money owns clubs in Europe. It will eat Tennis in the next decade if the sport wants more money. Soccer fans in Europe will be the biggest holdouts to this shift, but Idk if you guys can stop it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spockydog Posted August 18, 2023 Share Posted August 18, 2023 (edited) Once again, football is nothing like tennis. Or golf. Or any other individual sport. No Saudi (or American) team is ever getting into the UCL. Edited August 18, 2023 by Spockydog Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tywin et al. Posted August 18, 2023 Share Posted August 18, 2023 15 minutes ago, Spockydog said: Once again, football is nothing like tennis. Or golf. Or any other individual sport. No Saudi (or American) team is ever getting into the UCL. Money talks. Never say never, especially in an industry that's massively corrupt, everyone knows it's corrupt and nobody really cares. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spockydog Posted August 18, 2023 Share Posted August 18, 2023 This is the exact same attitude that saw a bunch of American billionaires eating shit over their brainless attempt to impose American non-sporting values on European football. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tywin et al. Posted August 18, 2023 Share Posted August 18, 2023 I wouldn't be afraid of the Americans, even if Bowie said he was. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Consigliere Posted August 18, 2023 Share Posted August 18, 2023 (edited) United's board and owners are absolutely disgusting. The whistleblowers who leaked the board's plans to The Athletic are legends. Crafton's latest article in The Athletic: https://archive.ph/fOzgj Quote Manchester United’s plan to bring back Mason Greenwood was so advanced that the club even prepared documents outlining the type of images that should be taken of the player during training sessions and planned how manager Erik ten Hag should handle questions during an anticipated media storm. According to sources with knowledge of United’s planning, who remain anonymous because they are not authorised to speak publicly, the club’s preparations for Greenwood’s return also included an assessment of the expected sentiment of external figures, listing individual football pundits, journalists and politicians and stating whether they would be for or against Greenwood’s reintegration. The planning divided these people into categories to the effect of “supportive”, “open-minded” or “hostile”. The club’s document listed a series of domestic abuse charities assumed to be “hostile”. The internal process has not consulted any charities specialised in supporting women in cases where alleged domestic or sexual abuse has occurred. The Athletic has also been told by sources close to the club, who will remain anonymous in order to protect their positions, that senior Manchester United executives held multiple intense meetings with staff after we reported on Wednesday that some employees feel ashamed by the club’s decision. Some staff members have discussed resigning in the event United continue to pursue the plan laid out by Arnold, while others have considered coordinated action, with some staff even exploring a strike. The most extreme measures, however, remain hypothetical until the club formally communicates a decision, while it is also the reality of a situation such as this that aggrieved employees are more likely to speak to journalists than those who are either on the fence or supportive of the decision. United’s concern on Thursday and Friday, however, was sufficient for crisis meetings to take place, which involved United executives seeking to justify a return for Greenwood to staff, while also claiming no final decision had been made. Many staff were left with the impression, though, that the plan to bring him back remains. Edited August 18, 2023 by Consigliere Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spockydog Posted August 18, 2023 Share Posted August 18, 2023 These people are cretins. There is only one way this story ends. And it doesn't feature Greenwood in a United shirt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spockydog Posted August 18, 2023 Share Posted August 18, 2023 3 hours ago, BigFatCoward said: On Lewis Hall, the Chelsea fans online are doing their nut online about them getting rid, that's enough of an endorsement for me. Notwithstanding that this thread shows that Chelsea fans know fuck all about football. Why? He was fourth choice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polishgenius Posted August 18, 2023 Share Posted August 18, 2023 6 minutes ago, Spockydog said: Why? He was fourth choice. He was fourth choice coz he's 18. He's seen as a huge prospect and had a couple of great games last season though. I get why they're annoyed about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denvek Posted August 18, 2023 Share Posted August 18, 2023 3 hours ago, The Sunland Lord said: Plus Turkey, its lion share of territory is geographically in Asia. Plus Israel, for political reasons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Consigliere Posted August 18, 2023 Share Posted August 18, 2023 Reports that Paqueta is being investigated by the FA for potential betting breaches. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigFatCoward Posted August 18, 2023 Author Share Posted August 18, 2023 50 minutes ago, Spockydog said: Why? He was fourth choice. Cos fans love home grown talent emerging, rather than foreign mercs who don't give a shit about the club or the culture. Wilbur 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raja Posted August 18, 2023 Share Posted August 18, 2023 decent money for an 18 year old, so makes sense they sold him Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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