"We live in a moment in the
history characterized by a new international disorder, a process
of geopolitical change in the balance of power, and that is also
happening in parallel way to the football field, with the entry
into the pitch of countries that want to bring the soft power of
football in its own sphere of influence, such as the United
States and Saudi Arabia, and where continental Europe and EU
countries risk losing their status as football powers and
becoming irrelevant in the world's most followed sport." This
was underlined by Narcís Pallarès -Domènech, Alessio Postiglione
and Valerio Mancini, authors of the book "Calcio, politica e
potere (Edizioni Mondo Nuovo, Pescara 2023, 22 euros, 314
pages), during the presentation of the book at the 32nd Karpacz
Economic Forum in Poland.
This year's conference had as its theme "New Values for the
Old Continent - Europe on the Threshold of Change" and among the
numerous meetings between political, economic and social
leaders, with guests coming from 60 countries in Europe, Asia
and America, it also talked about football.
The authors reiterated that "it is essential that in this
phase of change Europe, and especially the EU, has a strategy
for football". In addition to talking about the emerging role of
Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf countries in global football,
the topic of the European Super League controversy was also
addressed. According to the authors, "The European SuperLeague
was a project that was wrong in form but not in substance" and
they reiterated that "the football teams of continental Europe
are sinking towards absolute irrelevance in the future at the
international level, due to a multiplicity of elements,
including which highlights the power of the English Premier
League and the very strong economic capacity of Saudi Arabia to
strengthen its championship.
"Despite this trend progressing ever faster - conclude the
authors - one of the ways, perhaps the only one, to save
European football and above all that of the EU member countries,
is the creation of a Pan-European League, the only plausible
solution for to armor a strategic soft power asset for Europe".
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