Europe’s biggest football teams should not be forced to join the "great unwashed," according to the Chelsea Chair Bruce Buck, who said that U.S. authorities' attempts at "dumbing down" sport had a detrimental effect. Buck’s comments, on Thursday at the Leaders Sport Business Summit at Stamford Bridge in London, come amid efforts by UEFA to scrutinize options as to how to make football a more level playing field.
Buck said the 10 or 12 clubs that top European football now are likely to be the same ones that will be at the top for the near future. “The dream in England is if you support a conference team that someday you will win the Premier League," he said. "I think financial fair play has pluses and minuses, and one of the minuses is that the dream is now over. That’s not possible with financial fair play. What Chelsea did in 2003, what Man City did five years later, that is virtually impossible to do under financial fair play. In terms of competitive balance, which is always viewed in a negative way. I personally believe for the development of football, marquee clubs and marquee players are important."
Buck added that marquee players were important in developing a large fan base and attracting young players and helped big clubs put money into good causes. Buck: "I am not as a general proposition in favor of dumbing down the large clubs to make all clubs the great unwashed." Buck backed his argument by saying that moves in the U.S. to make teams compete on a more level playing field had hurt the sports. "They've done that in the U.S. over the last 20 years, and I think it's been to the detriment, particularly of baseball," he said. "I don’t think we should assume that because every club is not equal therefore it's bad."
John Reynolds is a writer in London.
