Wednesday 29 March 2023

In which we know that UEFA won't do anything about dual ownership but a girl can dream

This statement by Aleksander Ceferin about people owning more than one club (https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/64971337) amuses/infuriates me. 

Partly it's the that they seem to only care now that it's "big" clubs affected (or pseudo-big, call me back when PSG actually win the Champions League), when there's been multi-club ownership for a while. 

The other part is "yes, Alexander Ceferin, head of the organisation in charge of European football, I don't know why the people in power, such as the organisation in charge of European football, haven't looked at it before. Why don't you tell yourself next time you look in a mirror?" 

I know that is not a helpful comment but football organisations don't make me feel helpful. 

I also know this is not going to lead to anything except, at most, some easily circumvented rules intended to establish ethical walls between clubs. 

But my brain decided to think, "what if?" 

For a lot of the conglomerates that own more than one club, the decision will probably be easy. I think the Belgian first and second divisions would see a sudden efflux of money. 

Other teams, such as Udinese and Watford, both owned by the Pozzo family, that could be more interesting, but I suspect they'd keep Watford. On the other hand, their whole business model is based on flipping players and maximising gain so would they even keep either team. (Okay, yes, I know, they're Italian football team owners, trying to guess what they'll do next is impossible.) 

Then the evil cackling began, because I realised this would put Red Bull in a truly awkward position. Because I understand why a Thai drink sold through an Austrian distributor has always made much of it's Austrian-ness, and particularly it's mountain-regions-of-Austria-ness because a lot of the extreme sports that Red Bull chose to build its brand around have strong Austrian presence (you have a sport that features going too fast, in a mostly downhill direction, you'll get Austrians. It seems to be a national problem.). And the factory is there. Which made buying Salzburg and rebranding it make sense. 

It also makes buying Hype-zig (sorry Leipzig) and rebranding it sensible - it was, at the time, a city riding high on a high energy, young, fresh'n'new vibe. 

Let us be honest about the relative strengths of the two leagues - your brand will look cooler doing well in the German Bundesliga rather than winning the Austrian Bundesliga, and it's easier to bring good footballers into a German team. 

So Red Bull are in a right pickle if this new rule is brought in because they would either have to do something really stupid financially (no really, the German Bundesliga team are the financially sensible option), or have to against years and years of marketing positioning. 

That would amuse me anyway, but the idea of Red Bull Salzburg being brought back down to Earth warms the cockles of my evil heart because I was brought up green and white and Rapid (I will accept Admira Wacker Mödling because ... the family friend who is an Admira sufferer has now gone through 56 years of hurt and I don't see it getting better soon). 

Finally, there is hope of not being run over by Red Bull. 

(Before anyone says anything, yes, I get the same sinking feeling in both football and F1, it is unfortunate.)

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