Kenyon blast for Blatter’s snub

MANCHESTER UNITED chief executive Peter Kenyon has blasted the “short-sighted” attitude of FIFA and UEFA over their refusal to speak with the G14 group of clubs.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter and his UEFA counterpart Lennart Johansson have both declared they will not speak to G14 in an official capacity again as they are not a recognised body.

This stance has caused widespread anger among the 18 members of G14, including English representatives United, Liverpool and Arsenal, who do not see how the views of Europe’s elite clubs can be ignored.

A stand-off is currently in place over G14 demands for the two governing bodies to pay players’ wages during the finals of major competitions, such as the World Cup and European Championships, with neither side prepared to give any ground. The sides have not met since last season, after which FIFA and UEFA joined forces to snub G14.

“It is a pretty narrow-minded position,” Kenyon, a G14 vice-president, said. “G14 is around and will remain so. It is short-sighted for people to start making noises that they don’t want to talk to us. Effectively they are saying they want to ignore club football and I don’t see how they can because club football is critical to the success of the game.”

UEFA believe G14 is trying to strip some of their power away, with the club’s group still livid they were not consulted over the decision to abandon the second group phase of the Champions League, which will cost millions in lost ticket sales.

Johansson, who in May said UEFA would never recognise G14, believes any grievances should be made through the national associations or the 102-member UEFA forum, which he believes is more representative of European football as a whole.

This view receives little sympathy from Kenyon, who is adamant G14 are too powerful to be ignored.

“It is too easy for people to say G14 just want to do their own thing and do breakaways,” he said. “That is not true but equally you can’t get away from the fact the clubs are the employers of the players who play for the national sides and the fact those 18 clubs involved in G14 represent the major clubs in European competition. We don’t want to take over the Champions League but equally we are not prepared just to have arbitrary decisions made without involvement with club football.

“Football has to move forward and you can’t move forward by ignoring the clubs.”