A message from the CEO

Deduct them all 10 points or ban them from Europe for a season so somebody else gets a chance. Seems appropriate to me.

The real test of our commitment and opposition will be in 10 years time. If by then, the revenue from BMD, the investment of Mr Moshiri (and Mr Usmanov?), the draw of Carlo Ancelotti, and that we are regularly in the CL - and a similar plan is drawn up, then we will still say No.
We need a long term (20+ years) commitment to stay out of any cartel with no promotion or relegation.

Measures need to be put in place to prevent a re-occurrence, possibly including Government legislation to support the football authorities.

One punishment that I'd like to see considered is the expulsion from the Premier League of either all six clubs, or at least the "ring-leaders", suspended for about five years or so. Along with points deductions, again weighted against the prime movers in this fiasco.

We know the football authorities from FIFA down are as weak as shite, but if they don't take action now while they still have the opportunity to do so, they'll lose control of the game the next time these Clubs raise their heads. There will be a next time & they'll have learnt a lot from how badly handled the proposed Super League was this time 'round.

The annoying fact is that the whole ESL cartel was initiated by most of the biggest clubs in Europe. The reason that they are the biggest is that they win more thanks to huge investment in squads. Some have clearly overspent and can see new superclubs starting to overtake. This should be the natural cycle gradually turning giving others a shot, instead they want it to be a self fulfilling prophesy that they will always be a big club because they have always been a big club. TV should be encouraging competition not ossifying it in the shape of the same clubs every year. The very reason given why ESL is proposed is the reason why it can't happen, in this form. There must always be enough risk that investment is ultimately limited, there must be no sure things in footy.

That said FIFA are not known to be squeaky clean. A new system is needed, footy needs to be protected.

I think the 12 who decided to go down this path have been looking at money in football completely the wrong way.

Players' wages and fees for agents have risen ridiculously over the last 20 years. At a time when the clubs have been hit financially, why are they looking for ways to raise more money? Why not get together and say "Hang on a minute, what we really need to do is all agree to put a lid on players' wages, stop paying agents who are only acting in the interests of themselves and the players."

Players do not need more than £100k per week. They bang on about retiring early but they get paid nice sums to do after dinner speaking, write books, media work.

Dan - you are right of course. But if they do that football becomes more of a level playing field. They cannot take the risk of genuine competition. They need (want?) to maintain their status as a rich elite.

I believe this is why PSG shelled out so much for Neymar. It was to put top calibre players out of reach of other clubs.

True, it will level it out which is what they don't want. I still don't understand why Fifa and Uefa don't ban clubs paying agents. It is a real bug bear of mine.

I'm not sure if, as an organization/association, you can ban payment to Agents albeit each club could refuse to pay it which is what led to Tim Cahill joining Everton. One of the things Boris was said to be looking at was making the Premier League exempt from anti-competitive laws which I believe may be what the ESL conspirators were counting on to stop them being expelled...

Although I'm no expert in these matters – where's Ferns when you need him?

A 3-year transfer ban plus a 10- or 15-point deduction from next season is what is needed.

A transfer ban over an extended period of time will give the rest of us time to catch up and they would be able to sell players from their bloated squads to raise money.

A points deduction will see them playing catch-up from the off so let's see how good they really are. This would not punish the fans which is their latest ploy to avoid punishment.

If Uefa wants to add a European ban as well, that would be great.

Colin #9,

I can't disagree with anything in your proposal, though I will be pleasantly surprised if Uefa do anything at all.

Dan and Robert, 5 and 6, nice question and punchline there. With respect to DBB, an inclusive statement with some action to make it substantive, well done.
On the problem itself, the type of competition that Robert alludes to is what has placed unsustainable pressures on club balance sheets. This should be the focus of future discussions in lieu of perhaps a bit of a tantrum over punishments. Should internal pressures at these secessionist clubs be suffice just go with pursuit of capital regulations, transfer practices and other aspects of the financial game being played.

Is this the same clueless girl who has overseen the new stadium development?

Annoyed the hell out of me, how all the media came out with, well they withdrew when they realised the mistake, you cannot punish the players, the Manager, or the fans for the owners.

Why not, over 25 clubs, who went into Administration, through no fault of the fans,the players, or the Manager, had points deducted, not one person in the elite positions, asked for leanancy,to any of those clubs supporters, hand out the same punishment to those clubs, they signed the paperwork, before written permission to the premier league, about joining a new league.

Like it or not, they broke the rules, and need to be punished.

As I said elsewhere, the septic six did not pull out because of fan power or media power. They pulled out because they were scared of missing out on the pot of gold at the end of the premier league rainbow. They were scared of missing out on the pot of gold at the end of champions league rainbow. They were scared of being expelled from the premier league (never going to happen) and not being allowed back in. They were scared of an international ban for their players who may well have decided to seek pastures new in order to play for their countries.

All of these sanctions may seem a bit extreme, and highly unlikely to be enforced, but as Brian # 13 says, they need to be punished, as clearly they couldn't give a rats arse about English football, they were only concerned about their bank account. 20 points deduction this season, a 30 points deduction for next ssason, a five year European ban and £100M fine should be sufficient.

Spot on Rob, first two teams to pull out, were still in the Champions league, once the guy made the statement, you are either in or out, that was the moment, teams realised they would not be part of the Champs league, or the premier league.

Had City or Chelsea, not still been in the Champions league, would they have pulled out as quick.

Agree it had nothing at all, to do with fan power.