European Super League: Other 14 Premier League clubs divided on 'Big Six' punishments
Senior club official says Premier League Rule L9 - which says any member Premier League club needs prior written approval by the Board to enter a new competition - has "patently been broken" by the rebel six; another club executive says deductions or fines would hurt the wrong people
Wednesday 21 April 2021 18:12, UK
The other 14 Premier League clubs are divided on whether the 'Big Six' should face sanctions after they abandoned their plans to join a European Super League, Sky Sports News has been told.
One senior club official has said they want to pursue the possibility of punishments because they feel there is a clear breach of Premier League rules, and a precedent must be set to act as a deterrent to possible future breakaways.
Premier League Rule L9 says any member club needs prior written approval by the Board to enter a new competition, and this official says that rule has "patently been broken" by the rebels signing an agreement to join the proposed Super League.
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An executive at another Premier League club has told Sky Sports News any sanction imposed on the 'Big Six', such as points deductions or fines would hurt the wrong people - the players, managers, and, crucially, the fans of those clubs.
Instead, they advocate the Premier League rules being tightened for the future, but they say the 'Big Six' should be welcomed back into the fold quickly, because "there has to be a measure of realism" here, with those six clubs so crucial to the "overall commercial and sporting success" of the league.
There is likely to be another meeting of the 14 Premier League clubs - possibly even later on Wednesday - to discuss what should happen next.
'The desire is to punish individuals, not the clubs'
Analysis from Sky Sports News reporter Kaveh Solhekol:
When it comes to punishing the six Premier League clubs who signed up to the Super League, this is the consensus among the other 14 clubs.
The first task is to establish if the six clubs broke any Premier League rules by signing a letter of intent to join a non-recognised league.
The desire is to punish individuals and not clubs because points deductions and transfer embargoes would end up hurting the fans of the six clubs as well.
The 14 are particularly angry and disappointed with the executives from the breakaway clubs who had been sitting on key Premier League committees.
Certain executives will be banned from attending Premier League meetings in the future and that would make their positions at their clubs untenable.
The 14 clubs no longer trust these executives and cannot work with them going forward.
Going forward, the key, as far as the 14 are concerned, is to change the Premier League's rules so this does not happen again.
Executives from the breakaway clubs who sit on key Premier League committees include Bruce Buck of Chelsea and Ed Woodward of Manchester United.
Government legislation on the way in football
Analysis from Sky Sports News reporter Kaveh Solhekol:
"The reputational damage done to the game in this country has been huge and I would also say that as far as the clubs are concerned they have lost their voice, lost some of their power, lost some of their influence here and also abroad, in UEFA and in the European Club Association and also in FIFA.
"In the short term, I think the price to pay will be that the 14 other Premier League clubs have said 'some of you people behind this are not welcome at the Premier League anymore. You are not welcome at our meetings anymore, you are not people we can work with anymore.'
"So, some of these senior executives at these Premier League clubs will be very worried about their own personal futures.
"In the long-term, I think you are going to see the government legislate because this has shown that the way football runs in this country is not governed properly and I think the government will now act.
"I think in the future we could very well see an independent regulator in charge of running football in this country."
