UEFA management have rejected Slavia Prague's appeal against the decision to seed Liverpool in the preliminary rounds of the Champions League.
Slavia (who qualified for this season's Champions League, by coming second in the Czech Republic League to city neighbours Sparta) had launched an official appeal to UEFA after losing their seeding in the third qualifying round.
For once UEFA used some common sense and dismissed the appeal. Already Liverpool have endured having to enter the competition at the first qualifying round, have no country protection (which means they can face Everton in the third round of qualifying), and are receiving the smallest pot of money of all the Premiership teams!
Yes it's a shame that other teams are being effected "punished", by UEFA giving LFC special dispensation to compete in this years competition, but LFC are (by far) not getting an easy ride of it. Don't forget if LFC had won just one more game last season, they would have finished fourth and would have gone straight into the group stages and Arsenal would have to qualify from the third round!
This whole balls-up it down to UEFA's arrogance/idiocy, bias of the Premier League, and the FA's greed (at wanting to have an unprecedented 5 teams entered into the premium club football competition).
- If UEFA hadn't been so arrogant to think that winning the tournament means more that anything else, or stupid enough to think that this might occur (at least in a country where a team doesn't run its FA - i.e. Madrid/Man Scum/AC).
From the start UEFA realised that four teams from one country was plenty, but I guess didn't want to stop other countries (Portugal/Holland/etc) increasing their presence should one of them win it and fail to qualify from their domestic league. The problem, however, was their arrogance that of course each country would want the European Champions represented over a fourth place team! After all that's what happened in Spain, right!? What they failed to recognise, however, was that the Spanish FA didn't give a toss about who was the champion, just so long as Real Madrid get in!
They also didn't count on the fact that in England the money/power is with the Premier League and as far as they are concerned if the if 10 teams were permitted into the champions league they'd still pick the team that came 10th rather than the Champions of Europe!
- As for the Premier League there was no sporting basis for backing the fourth based team, but they were more concerned about other things. It didn't involve their favourite teams (ManUSA, Chelski, and the Arse), so they placed more importance on their league, that the most prestigious club competition in the world! Of course the fact that the Premier League Committee that decided that fourth place deserved the final spot had two of the four members from interested parties on the board, i.e. Bolton (who were still in with a shout for 4th place) and Arsenal (who would have had to drop out of the group stages and into the qualifying round should the Champions be admitted.)
- The FA were feeble, as always, but drooled at the opportunity that there could be FIVE premiership teams in the Champions League - they didn't care who would be inconvenienced!
So here it is many teams have been affected:
- Hajduk Split (the Croatian champions) have also protested against LFC being seeded, which has cost them a seeding in the second preliminary round.
- Slavia Prague losing their seeding in the third round
- The European team with the 9th highest coefficient ranking (who would've ) in the group stages will now be the in the second seed pot (with a knock on to the teams from the 2nd pot to the 3rd, and the 3rd to the 4th)
- Everton and ManUSA will lose money (as will Chelski and the Arse – although to a much lesser extent)
– So some good news at least!- Liverpool who as Champions of Europe have to play ALL of the qualifying rounds, get the smallest amount of money from the TV pot, have no national protection (meaning they can play Everton in the 3rd round of qualifying, Chelski or Everton in the group stages, or any of them for the round of the last 16 or the quarter finals!)
So despite how many other teams get affected by all the hoopla caused by the various footballing bodies actions the
least UEFA can do is give LFC its ranking that it has earned over the years. They will be ranked #1 in the group stages as Champions, but their coefficient puts them 3rd anyway – above all other Premiership teams – that means those that finished 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th !!!
Liverpool FC today announced that they will capture their first summer signing: free-agent Boudewijn Zenden. The midfielder has already passed a medical and will be introduced as an LFC player at a press conference on Monday afternoon.
On the same day, there has been fresh doubt poured on Steven Gerrard's future at Anfield. Press reports claim that he was disappointed the club did not agree new terms straight after the Istanbul triumph. They claim that club officials now fear Gerrard could now see his future in Spain with Real, who are believed to be prepared to offer a staggering pay packet of £150,000 per week!
