Manchester United's outgoing executive vice-chairman, Ed Woodward, has been engulfed in a political controversy in the last 24 hours after it was revealed that he met with Prime Minister Boris Johnson to get promises that the government will support the European Super League.
The ESL, a closed-shop league with the world's strongest teams, collapsed within 72 hours of its announcement after Manchester City and Chelsea caved in under media criticism and withdrew.
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Any of the pressure came from Downing Street, with Johnson condemning the plans as soon as they were revealed.
'It's not in the interests of cricket,' said the Prime Minister. How would it be right to have a situation where you form a kind of cartel?... First and foremost, we want to support the FA and the Premier League with the belief that we can foil this plan before it goes any further.'
Over the weekend, however, it was reported that Woodward had visited 10 Downing Street and met with Dan Rosenfield, the No10 chief of staff, who assured him that there would be no resistance to the plans.
This has sparked a political squabble, with shadow Culture Secretary Jo Stevens stating, "Once again, Johnson's credibility and fairness are called into question."
The public has a right to know just what authorities and the prime minister promised Manchester United.
‘If Johnson supported the European Super League before openly opposing it, the British people deserve a complete, simple, and prompt clarification and apology.'
According to Caroline Wheeler of The Sunday Times, reports state that Woodward met with Rosenfield, who assured him that it was safe to proceed. Unfortunately for Ed, the Prime Minister was not informed of this by the Number 10 man.
It is said that this was achieved without consulting the Prime Minister... Woodward returned to those in charge of SL and effectively stated that the PM's chief of staff had given the project the go-ahead.' Wheeler sent out a tweet.
‘Positive signals from Downing Street were believed to have been transmitted to those behind the ESL on Saturday and were evidently significant in the final decision to start. Ed Woodward has vehemently disputed this.'
Ed is a wuss. He obviously believed he'd crossed all his t's and dotted all his i's. Millions of dollars have been paying to attorneys to convince the plotters that there would be no court threat to their plans.
Downing Street had assured him that they would not obstruct their efforts. Woodward must have wondered, 'What could potentially go wrong?'
The revelations also make a joke of last week's stories from generally credible outlets such as The Athletic alleging that Woodward was opposed to the whole Super League concept and "was not tolerant of the project, he was forced to go along with his bosses." Nobody else was in Downing Street except Woodward. Woodward was the one who reassured UEFA President Sepp Blatter.
Aleksander Ceferin stated his full support for the new Champions League just one day before the ESL was revealed, prompting the UEFA official to call him a "snake." A Premier League director referred to Woodward as the "ringleader of all violent behavior." JP Morgan, Woodward's old company, was funding the whole ESL scheme.
Far from being an unwitting participant, there is enough reason to say that Woodward was the pivotal character in the whole saga, seated in his huge leather chair like a Bond villain plotting the demise of English football.
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