The proposal by Richard Scudamore to play a thirty-ninth round of English Premier League fixtures across the globe shows just how out of touch with reality the governors of English football have become.
The idea was reportedly conceived by billionaire media tycoon Rupert Murdoch, who made a failed attempt in 1998 to buy English giants Manchester United. It would have seen a thirty-ninth round of Premier League fixtures added to the season, with fixtures drawn at random and teams asked to play in cities across the globe.
The proposal drew a firestorm of criticism from both within and outside England, with Premier League managers the first to voice their disapproval. Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson revealed that club managers hadn't even agreed to the scheme before Premier League Chief Executive Scudamore announced plans to the media, while Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp was one of the most outspoken critics of the plan.
FIFA supremo Sepp Blatter castigated the idea and was bemused that the Premier League had failed to even consult the world game's governing body before floating the idea, while the Asian Football
English fans, meanwhile, reacted with predictable outrage towards a proposal that amounts to little more than a cynical marketing scheme. With the English game already awash with television money, Premier League clubs have been criticised for consistently raising ticket prices, making English football the most expensive to watch in the world.
Now the Premier League has proposed to cash in by taking fixtures as far afield as Los Angeles, Sydney and Tokyo in an effort to entice global fans to pour more money into the coffers of the English game. Scudamore even suggested that the fixtures take place in January, during one of the busiest months of the English season and despite the radically different climates found in some of the cities mentioned.
That the English Premier League would so casually alienate fans, managers and associations alike is a stark reminder of the arrogance of those who run the English game. While Spain's Primera Liga is regarded as the best in Europe and Germany's Bundesliga attracts the largest crowds, the English Premier League's self-congratulatory bosses continue to peddle an over-hyped product, oblivious to the ill-will that they are generating both in England and across the globe.
The most startling aspect of the Premier League's neo-colonialist attitude is the disregard shown to domestic leagues of the countries mentioned as potential venues. The J. League reacted with dismay at a proposal that could draw fans away from domestic fixtures, while Football Australia boss Frank Lowy was quick to dismiss the idea that Premier League matches could take place in Australia, claiming that it was his duty to protect the interests of the fledgling A-League.
Of equal concern is that while the hubris of the English Premier League spirals out of control, there is a glaring failure to acknowledge the dwindling popularity of English football in some of the overseas markets mentioned. Attendances at Manchester United's regular Asian pre-season tours have fallen steadily since United began their annual trip to the Far East in 2005, while clubs like Derby County have incredibly announced plans to increase their presence in the region, despite the fact that most football fans in Asia have never heard of the club. Furthermore Manchester United's attempt to tour Malaysia in the middle of the 2007 AFC Asian Cup persuaded many that United's naked profiteering was doing long-term damage to football in the region.
Even in markets that have no been over saturated by English football - such as large swathes of Africa and South-East Asia, the infrastructure simply does not exist to host an English Premier League fixture. It's also questionable as to whether the local populace could even afford to attend an English league game, while timing the matches so that they could be beamed live into England throughout the day would present a logistical nightmare.
It's little wonder that the 39th game proposal was dead in the water from the second it was announced. Yet surely the concern must be that a system of checks and balances is lacking to prevent such a hare-brained scheme from being announced in the first place.
The English Premier League seems convinced that the globalization of English football makes perfect sense, yet such delusions of grandeur are fueled solely by profit. With the league increasingly testing the patience of fans at home and abroad, the Premier League could be set for an uncomfortable dose of reality if fans finally start voting with their feet.
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