Stuff supporters should know, Villa youth snub, Qatar slaves

UEFA snub European Youth Champions Aston Villa

Remember last season Villa were the best youth team in Europe after beating Chelsea in the Next Gen Series final? Well, as most of you’ll know, the Next Gen Series mysteriously disappeared due to supposed claims it couldn’t attract sponsorship for another year. So, nothing to do with UEFA starting the ‘UEFA Youth League’, then?

Of course, the Next Gen Series was disbanded solely due to UEFA’s new initiative, which again provides an example of the football authority’s short-sighted desire of the maintaining of status quo in football. Only teams that qualify from the Champions League quality for the UEFA Youth League. So not only do the English top four teams get to keep their strangle hold on the Premiership due to their Champions League prize money at senior level, but they also now get to develop their youth teams at a higher level too.

Also, now talented younger players will choose to go to top four teams due to the allure of UEFA Youth League football, in the same way top players use the Champions League football as a reason to move to clubs (roughly translated for ‘more money’)

UEFA, FA and Premier League seem to be intent on taking all the elements of sport and fairness out of football. People mock the razzamatazz of NFL football in the states, but with their wage cap and draft system (the worst teams of the previous season get to pick the best new players), at least they are keen on keeping it a competitive sport. Football in Europe needs to take lessons fast.

Blood money – Qatar using slave trade to build World Cup

Another example of $$$ signs blinding logic and common sense judgement. We already know that Qatar is far from suitable to host the jewel in the football calendar, the World Cup, for many reasons (temperature, no football culture, tradition etc). It gets worse though.

The abuse of migrant workers used to build their World Cup infrastructure is akin to slave trade conditions with many workers dying already in ridiculous conditions. The press are slowly outing what must rank as FIFA’s worst decision

Spurs fans pressure club to rid themselves of StubHub

The chair of the Football Supporters Federation, Malcolm Clarke has described ticket agencies such as Viagogo and StubHub as “legalised touts”, with supporters essentially being encouraged to rip their fellow supporters off by reselling tickets at inflated prices. Football fans though have been talking action against them.

Spurs fans have recently sent an open letter to their club requesting them to end their deal with Stubhub.

Schalke 04 fans have already got their club to terminate their deal with Viagogo and Manchester City fans have also campaigned to follow suit.

Fan run exchanges that try to ensure that tickets exchange hands for face value have ironically been considered illegal by clubs. It’s double-standards.