The UEFA Nations cash cow

This post was featured on maltatoday.com.mt 

If your wife complains that there's too much football on TV, just don't read this post.

A new (additional) competition for national teams has been announced by UEFA this week. The 'Nations League' will be played every 2 years replacing most international friendly matches as of 2018.

I won't go into the convoluted format being proposed. The innovation lies mainly in the fact that national teams will be split into four different divisions according to their ranking, with the possibility of being promoted or relegated. Mini-tournaments will be played between groups of 3 or 4 teams, with the winners then playing for the title of each division and the possibility of earning a place in the European Championship and possibly the World Cup finals. Complicated? Let go.

Judging by current rankings, Malta would be playing in the bottom division with the other 'minnows' (but also a few not-so-small countries). This gives competition a whole new meaning for our national team. It will have more opportunities to go out on the pitch to win games rather than simply to mitigate the damage, as is often the case nowadays.

The idea looks promising. It should inject some much-needed interest into local football and a sense of belonging vis-à-vis our national team. Let's face it, how many times do we go to the stadium with a real conviction that the boys in red could win points? The occurrence is very rare, usually once or twice in each qualifying campaign.

I believe this could also be a good opportunity for the development of the local game. The team could start preparing matches with a slightly more adventurous game plan.  

The Nations League will not replace the traditional qualifiers for both the European Championships and the World Cup. Another good compromise, which ensures that we will still enjoy the odd big-name fixture, such as the upcoming match against Italy in September.

The move was (also) attractive from a financial point of view, there's no two ways about it. This competition will reshift the balance between club and national team football. The big bucks being made from the Champions League could be replicated via national teams. A different set of allegiances, banking on national fervour, but with the same potential for television networks.

This aspect should also work out well for us though. As of the Euro 2016 qualifiers, UEFA has started to sell TV rights collectively for the entire competition (rather than having each national association negotiate rights for its own home games) - this should bring better returns to the Malta FA and other small countries sharing the same pot with the big guns.

UEFA President Michel Platini is certainly banking on this grand scheme and the unanimous support of the European football family in view of next year's race for the FIFA presidency. He is still to announce whether he will take on the ever-present Sepp Blatter. But let's leave that for another time.

Despite a million problems, football remains in demand. Let's just hope we're not heading towards an overkill.

Il-globalizzazzjoni fir-riżultati

Kien hemm żmien meta fil-kompetizzjonijiet Ewropej kont tara jaslu lin-Nottingham Forest, lill-Hamburg, Ipswich, Aberdeen, Sampdoria...

Illum? Għodduhom, u taraw li mhux aktar minn 32 tim irnexxielhom jagħmluha tal-anqas sal-kwarti tal-finali fl-aħħar 10 snin! U erbgħa minnhom tfaċċaw darba; erbgħa oħra rnexxielhom darbtejn. Jibqa' l-miżerja ta' 24 tim, li bejniethom jilagħbu għall-unuri sena wara sena.

Bħal fl-ekonomija, fejn 99% tal-ġid jinsab għand 1% tal-popolazzjoni, fil-futbol sirna rridu nikkuntentaw naraw nofs tużżana timijiet jitqabdu sena wara l-oħra.

Kemm taħsbu li jista' jdum ikampa l-futbol hekk? It-tlielaq tal-Formula 1 għaddew minn ċiklu simili: snin li fihom id-domanda splodiet, hekk kif iffjorixxa l-prodott televiżiv, biex illum l-udjenza dinjija waqgħet b'mod drastiku.

Forsi għax it-tim favorit tiegħi mhux fost dawk in-nofs tużżana, imma nixtieq nerġa' nara tim bħall-Vicenza (tiftakruhom fis-semi finali tat-Tazza tat-Tazzi kontra ċ-Chelsea?), il-Parma....jew il-Milan! :)

Iż-żraben li jmiss

Iltqajt ma' dan l-artiklu fuq L'Equipe li janalizza l-aħħar battalja - waħda minn ħafna - bejn in-Nike u l-Adidas. Mid-dehra t-tnejn li huma qed jippruvaw ikunu tal-ewwel li joħorġu b'idea għal tip ta' żarbun tal-futbol ġdid.

Nike Magista u Adidas Primeknit huma ż-żewġt iżraben fir-ritratt. Aktar ifakkruk fil-basketball, imma mid-dehra diġà ppruvawhom xi plejers kbar fit-training. Fosthom Mario Götze. Mhux insinifikanti meta tqis li l-Adidas huma mhux biss sponsors eterni tal-Bayern, imma anki shareholders.

Jidher li għadu mhux deċiż meta se jitnedew fil-verità. In-Nike jinsabu f'fażi aktar avvanzata u hemm min qed  jgħid li nistgħu naraw dawn iż-żraben anki fiċ-Champions League. M'għandniex xi ngħidu, l-akbar vetrina hi t-Tazza tad-Dinja (Cristiano Ronaldo, li huwa fost l-immaġni ewlenin tan-Nike, diġà qal li mhux se jkun qed juża dan iż-żarbun). 

Skont l-istess ariklu, Ronaldo s'issa akkumula €148 miljun matul il-karriera tiegħu, €2 miljuni aktar minn Messi.

Il-proporzjon tal-flus li jaqla' Ibrahimovic mal-goals li jiskurja huwa ta' €394,595 għal kull goal.

U bilħaqq...il-Magista mistenni jkun jiswa xi €275. Ara meta tifel jibda jgħid lil missieru, "Pa, irrid żarbun tal-futbol ġdid!"

Għadhom jeżistu dawn...

Kultant ifeġġu każi li jkebbsu ftit tama li forsi fil-futbol fadal ftit rispett u rġulija. Ftit huma, imma anki għalhekk ta' min jippromwovihom.

Veru li t-tim kien qed jirbaħ 2-0 diġà, imma l-plejer ma damx jaħsibha biex jindika li ma kienx penalty. Tgħid kieku kienu 1-0 minn taħt kien jagħmel l-istess? Irrid nemmen li iva. Probabbli lanqas jekk tistaqsi lill-plejer innifsu ma jkun jaf...

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L-unika ħaġa li fadlilna

Għal min għadu ma rahx, dan hu l-video #numru 12 - maħdum tajjeb u jżommok tarah. Inizjattiva ġenwina ta' min iħobb il-futbol.

Mingħajr tlaqliq inħoss li l-kontribut ta' nies bħal dawn, kif ukoll tal-media in ġenerali, irendu l-futbol Malti aktar attraenti milli fil-fatt hu! Jekk toqgħod taħseb, f'din in-naqra ta' gżira nirreplikaw kull ma naraw fil-futbol professjonali - kummentarji tal-logħob, analiżi warajhom, features, kontroversji, eċċ. Dan kollu madwar kompetizzjonijiet li f'termini ta' numri lanqas jikkumparaw mal-Counties fl-Ingilterra, jew il-Provincie fl-Italja.

Imma dik hi. Il-passjoni ma tħarisx lejn id-daqs jew il-livell. L-isfortuna hi li qed nabbużaw bil-kbir mill-fatt li l-futbol jibqa' in demand. Imma, kif jgħid il-messaġġ ċentrali tal-video - jekk inħarsu lejn l-attendenzi fil-grounds tagħna, l-istampa hi allarmanti. U jekk nitilfu l-parti s-sabiħa tal-logħba - il-passjoni - ma jkun fadal xejn. Nistgħu ma nilagħbux.

In-nazzjonal u l-plejers ta' Valletta

Smajna ħafna battibekki fuq il-kwistjoni tal-plejers ta' Valletta u l-esklużjoni tagħhom mit-tim nazzjonali għal kontra l-Albanija.

Bħas-soltu, dur dur b'xi mod it-tort ikun dejjem tal-MFA. Ħafna deherilhom li Valletta ma mxewx tajjeb. Kien hemm min qal li għandhom jiġu ppenalizzati bħala klabb u mhux jeħlu l-plejers, anki għaliex ir-raġuni mogħtija kienet waħda 'teknika'.

Forsi f'din il-ġustifikazzjoni kien hemm nuqqas kważi kważi semantiku. Imma ftit nara għażliet li kellha quddiemha l-MFA. Il-kwistjoni ddur fuq ftehim volontarju u informali (għax mhux miktub) bejn il-klabbs tal-Premier u l-MFA. F'dan is-sens, jekk kien hemm dispett, dan sar fil-konfront tal-klabbs l-oħra daqs kemm tat-tim nazzjonali.

Fil-fehma tiegħi, li kieku kellha l-MFA tippenalizza lil Valletta bħala klabb, dawn kien ikollhom difiża faċli: ir-regoli tal-FIFA jobbliga lill-klabbs jirrilaxxaw lill-plejers għal logħob internazzjonali (meta dawn jintlagħbu f'ġurnata li tkun indikata fil-kalendarju tal-logħob internazzjonali):

- 4 ijiem qabel fil-każ ta' logħob ta' kwalifikazzjoni (kultant 5 ijiet, skont il-każ)
- 48 siegħa fil-każ ta' data allokata għal-logħbiet ta' ħbiberija.

Mela l-MFA ma setgħetx tagħmel wisq fil-konfront ta' Valletta.

Ovvjament, dan ma jnaqqas xejn mill-fatt li l-Belt kellhom ftehim mal-klabbs l-oħra u l-MFA, u li kisruh. U ma jnaqqas xejn mill-fatt li allura l-MFA aħjar timxi bil-pinna u l-klamar u tifformalizza kull ma jiġi miftiehem.

Imma mbagħad...tista' tiftiehem fuq perjodu itwal minn dawk imsemmija fir-regoli tal-FIFA? U bil-kunsens tal-klabbs stess? Dawn il-mistoqsijiet li rridu nistaqsu għall-futur. Inutli nippuntaw subgħajna.