UEFA's General Secretary Gianni Infantino said that any ideas England's Premier League might have of playing matches overseas "would be unlikely to get any backing from UEFA," according to Mike Collett of REUTERS. UEFA "failed to support the idea when it was first mooted six years ago," and Infantino told delegates at the Leaders In Sport Summit that "he did not think UEFA would change its stance on the issue." FIFA exec committee member Michel D'Hooghe said, "My personal opinion is that this is a very dangerous precedent and I am not in favor. I understand the reasons why they would like to do it, they are financial I suppose, but if you start doing that, where does it end?" UEFA would only have direct jurisdiction over
games being played outside of England if they were played elsewhere in Europe, "and would not be directly involved if matches were played in a member association of another confederation." Matches "could only be played overseas with the approval of the host nation, the confederation involved, and FIFA" (
REUTERS, 10/9). In London, Oliver Kay wrote TV presenter Gary Lineker took to Twitter to call the plans “rotten” and driven by “disrespectful avarice,” while the Football Supporters’ Federation said that it was prepared to mount the “strongest possible opposition” to any such proposal. The idea also "met with disapproval" from Bundesliga CEO Christian Seifert who was in London to speak at the Leaders in Football conference at Stamford Bridge. Seifert said that "the German league would not contemplate such a move, despite the obvious financial possibilities it might create." Seifert: "A 35th game for the Bundesliga in foreign markets? I would say we have a completely different approach about our idea of German football. I think it’s a creative idea -- for the financial side, maybe it would be a good idea to play a match day all over the world -- but [not for] the supporters who are visiting 34 games of that club, no matter if it’s snow or wind or rain" (
LONDON TIMES, 10/9).
