Charlie Stillitano, the chairman of Relevant Sports, former MLS General Manager, and yet another Yank friend of Alex Ferguson, has come out and declared that the likes of Manchester United should be granted a place in Europe's elite competition regardless of how useless they happen to be.
The American met with representatives of English football's 'Big Five' in the Dorchester Hotel in London this week. The Champions League insistence on meritocracy evidently rankles with some of the big boys, especially when they don't merit a place in the competition.
In the London hotel, they discussed ending the Champions League and creating a new invitation-only competition.
The 'big five', in case you're wondering - and one would be inclined to wonder these days - are Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal.
In an interview with Sirius XM Radio today, Stillitano attempted, tentatively, to justify the idea that Leicester City should be excluded from the elite European competition.
Won't someone think of the Manchester United or Liverpool fans?
Let’s call it the money pot created by soccer and the fandom around the world. Who has had more of an integral role, Manchester United or Leicester? Leicester is a wonderful story, but you could see it from United’s point of view, too.
Maybe (Leicester qualifying for the Champions League) is absolutely spectacular, unless you’re a Manchester United fan, a Liverpool fan or a Chelsea fan. I guess they don’t have a birthright to be in it every year, but it is the age-old argument: US sports franchises versus what they have in Europe. There are wonderful, wonderful elements to relegation and promotion, and there are good arguments for a closed system.
Charlie informed us that the likes of PSV Eindhoven and Ghent doesn't float his boat.
This is going to sound arrogant and it’s the furthest thing from it, but suddenly when you see the teams we have this summer in the International Champions Cup — the pre-season tournament that Relevent organises — you are going to shake your head and say, ‘Isn’t that the Champions League?’ No, the Champions League is PSV Eindhoven and Ghent.
That word 'franchising'. It's cropped up before in European football. Remember when Wimbledon when Wimbledon were going to up sticks and move their base to Clondalkin going to up sticks and move their base to Clondalkin... The only thin about the old club that the Dublin Dons were going to retain were the nickname and, rather more pivotally, the League position.
Read more: Five 'Top' Premier League Clubs Meet To Help Turn European Football Into Utter Shite
