If English football was more united, it might be able to have more impact on Fifa. This interesting speculative fantasy sets out a possible scenario to force through reform.
If English football was more united, it might be able to have more impact on Fifa. This interesting speculative fantasy sets out a possible scenario to force through reform.
One thing it doesn’t mention is that the UK is the only country allowed to have four separate national associations, reflecting the origins of the game, although Sepp Blatter seems to think it came from China and was only codified in the UK.
In many ways the failure is a boost for those who want those who run English football to think less about the international team and staging international tournaments and more about the domestic game. There is a clear conflict of interest on many matters between club and country, e.g., friendly matches.
It’s significant that the FA and the Barclays Premier League sent a joint letter to the press claiming that ‘England continues to be the best place in the world to play, watch and talk about football. Whatever the weather [?], over 7m people will be playing [is this right? ed] and hundreds of thousands more will travel to some of the finest stadia in the world to watch the most deeply-rooted professional football in the world.’