Curva Sud, the ultras of AC Milan, the hardcore of the hardcore fans has had their say on their team’s possible involvement in the European Super League.
AC Milan, Inter Milan and Juventus were touted for the league leaving the likes of Napoli and Roma behind, which is rich considering over a recent span of seven seasons, both those sides have finished runners up over Inter and AC Milan.
While the fans of clubs in England have been out protesting, demanding a change of ownership, the normally vocal and passionate Italian fans have been relatively quiet.
I had my own say last week, honestly, though reading what the AC Milan fans have said, I believe they capture the essence of the sentiments of the fans worldwide.
“Honestly, it makes us laugh to see all those people in the control room of football suddenly claim we fans are first and foremost. The Super League is just the latest in a long line of innumerable manoeuvres over decades that has made football into a business. The birth of this new competition would certainly be another shove to the football of old, which is by now a distant memory, and will inevitably obscure the tradition of the various national leagues, robbing football of the undeniable principle of sporting meritocracy.
“But the thing that most leaves us indignant is the hypocrisy of all those who contributed to making this sport nothing but a business, those who today stand up in name of the fans, but only because they saw their remunerative and seemingly untouchable project fall apart.
“Football did belong to the people until the 1990s, when the Champions League was born, destroying the old European Cup. From that moment, an unbreachable chasm has been created between the big and small clubs. Football did belong to the people even when nobody lifted a finger to stop the increase of ticket prices that was imposed by some Presidents.”
“Football did belong to the people even when nobody stepped in to stop the rise of the super agents, who took player salaries to ever more astronomical figures, which could only be sustained with TV rights, the same TV companies that imposed increasingly chaotic fixture lists, with games on improbable days and kick-off times.
“Football did belong to the people even when rules were imposed to stop any rapport between the players and the fans.
“Football did belong to the people even when Supercoppa Finals were played on other continents or the dates of some games were changed a few days before kick-off, damaging those fans who had booked trains or planes to get to the stadium.
“Football did belong to the people even when some clubs were allowed to circumvent Financial Fair Play, while others with less influential Presidents were penalised. Football did belong to the people even when the World Cup was forced to Qatar in 2022, despite moving the entire calendar and disregarding human rights violations.
“We could list numerous other examples to show the absolute hypocrisy of the words we’re hearing from the football chiefs over the last 48 hours. The Super League is just the latest disgusting step, but those who took football to this point are no less grotesque, so save us these ludicrous performances of rhetoric and morality.
“Now that the money is running out, feel free to fight it out between yourselves, but don’t you dare name the fans. PIGS!”
Damning words, let us know your thoughts in the comments. Some of your opinions may be shared on our weekend show, Scoreline.
