Chapter 987 is finally here!
"Hello, Carl!"
"Hello, Master Huan!"
After the two met at the window, they politely clinked their glasses and drank.
Rummenigge just saw Yang Huan chatting enthusiastically with Platini and Infantino.
Even though the whole world seems to be eager to skin Platini and Blatter and cook them, in fact, unlike Blatter who is deserted by his friends in FIFA, Platini still has a lot of prestige in UEFA.
This Frenchman is no simple man. In the past few years, he has run UEFA like an iron bucket.
Not long ago, someone proposed to suspend Platini's position as UEFA president and let the first vice president, Spanish Football Association President Bilal take over temporarily, but what was the result?
There was no sound at all, even the person who made the proposal was silent.
Everyone knows that even if Platini cannot run for election this time, his confidant Infantino will do the same.
Therefore, Rummenigge knew that if he guessed correctly, they should have been discussing Infantino's campaign for the FIFA presidency.
And everyone knows that Master Huan has a huge influence in today's international football.
"Master Huan, to be honest, I really admire you!" Rummenigge said with a smile.
Yang Huan couldn't tell whether it was true or not, so he smiled, "Really? Why?"
"It's incredible that we have been able to build a business like this in just a few years."
After hearing this, Yang Huan curled his lips and wanted to say, of course, I am a time traveler.
You guys are fighting for high-quality star talents, but in the past four years, I know every minute where to get the players I want.
Just on this point, there is no technical requirement to beat you!
"Now many people are saying that Southampton is already a super giant on par with Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich. If it was a year ago, or even half a year ago, perhaps no one would believe it, but now..."
Rummenigge didn't finish his words, but Yang Huan understood his meaning.
In the past six months, especially after Yang Huan established the Miracle Football Group and let Peter Kenyon be fully responsible for the affairs of the Miracle Football Group, many unknown changes have taken place in European football without people noticing.
Some things are known to everyone, such as the relationship between Southampton and Monaco, Atletico Madrid, Inter Milan, Hamburg, Ajax, Benfica and other teams. Everyone in the core circle knows this.
But so what?
It seems that everyone knows the relationship between Chelsea and Dutch club Vitesse. In order to avoid both of them participating in the Champions League, Chelsea even asked Vitesse not to win the league championship in order to circumvent UEFA rules.
But the Young Master Huan in front of us is different. He is carefree and open, and allows all his teams to appear in the European arena. Although everyone knows that these teams rely on their strength to compete, doesn't this violate the rules?
There is a saying that goes, all rules are set for the weak.
In the eyes of the strong, are rules useful?
The answer is, it is useful, but it can be modified and there can be exceptions!
"Karl, you didn't come here to tell me this on purpose, did you?" Yang Huan laughed, "Also, if you are blaming Monaco for snatching away Timo Horn that you had your eyes on, then I can't do anything about it. This matter has nothing to do with me!"
Rummenigge laughed out loud, "Master Huan, you are joking. The transfer is over now. It's over!"
It sounds like he is really open-minded.
There were previous reports that Bayern Munich was very dissatisfied with goalkeeper Kraft. After failing to introduce Neuer, Bayern Munich was interested in Cologne's Timo Horn and planned to sign him after observing him for a period of time.
But in the end, without any news in the transfer market, Monaco suddenly took action and spent 8 million euros to bring Timo Horn from Cologne in just one night.
German media revealed that this made Bayern Munich very dissatisfied.
But in Young Master Huan’s opinion, what’s the big deal?
In the final analysis, running a football club is a competition for talent. Whoever can't afford it should not play!
"Master Huan, to be honest, I'm here tonight on behalf of the European Club Association to invite you, Southampton, to attend the member meeting to be held in Nyon, Switzerland in a few days."
After hearing this, Yang Huan frowned and shook his head. "I don't quite understand, Karl. We are not a member of the European Club Association, nor are we an informal member. Why did you invite us to attend the Members' Meeting?"
Rummenigge laughed after hearing this. "Master Huan, it's like this. After consultation and communication with the Executive Committee, we feel that Southampton has made outstanding contributions to European football in the past few years. Therefore, we plan to make an exception and invite Southampton to join the European Club Association and become a formal member."
"This... doesn't seem to be against the rules?" Yang Huan still frowned.
"If I remember correctly, according to the European Club Association's charter, any team that wants to join the organization and become a formal member must either win five European Championship trophies, or apply to become an informal member first, observe for a period of time, and then become a formal member through replacement."
At this point, Yang Huan smiled awkwardly, "I counted, in Southampton's more than 100-year history, we have only won four European Championship trophies, which is not enough!"
The championship trophies required by the European Club Association do not include the Super Cup and the Club World Cup, but only the Champions League, Europa League, the former UEFA Cup and the European Cup Winners' Cup.
However, all of Southampton's European championships were won in the few years after Yang Huan took over, and there are only four of them, which is not enough.
As for applying to become an informal member, it is not difficult, but the difficulty lies in becoming a formal member.
Why do I say so?
This story begins when the European Club Association was founded.
Everyone knows that among the sixteen founding teams, nine teams are from G14. That is to say, on the surface it is recognized by UEFA and represents the official organization of European professional clubs, but in the final analysis, it is still controlled by G14.
Especially in recent years, G14 teams have joined the organization one after another, and the European Club Association has become an expanded version of the G14 organization.
Like the G14 organization, the top teams still have the most say in the European Club Association.
Since they represent the interests of the giants, they will definitely find ways to control the mid- and lower-level teams.
How to control it?
It’s simple, just the rules!
Although the number of formal members of the European Club Association has been expanding, in reality, there is a strict quota control.
The leagues ranked first to third in the European Cup standings can have five official member places, fourth to sixth can have four, seventh to fifteenth can have three, sixteenth to twenty-eighth can have two, and twenty-ninth to fifty-third can only have one.
But if that were all, it wouldn’t be a big deal. The key is the limited number of seats on the Executive Committee.
The ECA's Executive Committee has a total of fifteen seats, eleven of which are elected by ballot.
From the leagues ranked first to sixth in the European standings, five executive committee members will be selected; from the leagues ranked seventh to fifteenth, three will be selected; from the leagues ranked sixteenth to twenty-eighth, two will be selected; and from the leagues ranked twenty-ninth to fifty-third, one will be selected.
The remaining four places come from the teams previously recommended by the European Club Association to the UEFA Strategic Committee, which are usually top teams.
Yes or no?
Through this layer-by-layer reduction and strict quota restrictions, power is firmly controlled at the top.
For those mid- and lower-level teams, what does it matter if they have places?
As the saying goes, when people are poor, they have low aspirations. Let me ask, what can the teams from small national leagues such as Estonia, Luxembourg, or Ireland say in such an occasion?
Even if you are allowed to speak, once the interests of the wealthy teams are affected, you will be alone and powerless.
This is why Master Huan said that rules are set for the weak.
Why does the Premier League have six places?
Manchester City does not have five European Championship trophies, which does not meet the requirements of the European Club Association's statutes to make an exception and increase the number of Premier League places. So why was Manchester City able to become an official member?
Yang Huan is not jealous of Manchester City. On the contrary, if he wanted to join, he would have joined long ago.
Monaco, Atletico Madrid, Inter Milan, Benfica, Ajax, Basel, Austria Vienna, Sparta Prague and Anderlecht are all official members.
AEK Athens and Hamburg have also been informal members for a long time.
Just think, if Southampton wanted to join, wouldn’t it be easy?
With Young Master Yi Huan's connections and relationships, it would only take a few minutes. What's the problem?
The problem is, Young Master Huan never thought about joining before, or rather, he would not take the initiative to join!
Rummenigge smiled bitterly when he heard what Master Huan said.
Master Huan, the whole world knows that you are the most unruly person, and now you are talking to me about rules?
If we really had to follow the rules and regulations, we should have kicked all of your teams out of the European Club Association, but the problem is that we never did that.
On the contrary, we have always turned a blind eye, Master Huan.
But Rummenigge didn't dare to say these words to his face and just smiled.
"Master Huan, there are always exceptions to everything!"
Yang Huan nodded, feeling amused. An exception?
"Southampton has made such a great contribution to the development of European football in the past few years, so we should naturally make an exception for them!"
This really amused Master Huan.
It's understandable to use these words to fool football fans, but is it possible to fool Young Master Huan?
Rummenigge looked at Master Huan's expression and felt so depressed.
Others are begging to join the European Club Association, but it depends on the mood of those big guys. If they are unhappy, just get out.
But you, Master Huan, are so good. We took the initiative to beg you to come in, but you still hesitated and refused to come in. Is this reasonable?
Also, after people join, they have to start from the reserve alliance, er, no, it's informal membership, and wait until they have enough qualifications. Only when we are happy can they become full members, and even after becoming full members, they still have to look at our mood.
Master Kehuan, you became an official member directly!
You know, with Southampton's entry, the Premier League will increase its current six places to seven.
La Liga and the Bundesliga each have only five places, and Italy even has only four places, which is enough to give face to the Premier League teams!
But Rummenigge can only keep these words and these things in his heart and cannot speak them out.
In fact, the reason why he took the initiative to invite saints to join was ultimately due to the situation.
What Peter Kenyon has been doing in European football over the past period of time has almost driven them crazy.
Also, the Premier League teams have been surprisingly united in recent times, and have been able to advance and retreat together, which is surprising.
More importantly, with Blatter's fall, both FIFA and UEFA need to reform.
This is undoubtedly a great opportunity for the European Club Association.
Because one of the reform agendas of FIFA and UEFA is to increase the voice of capital in professional football and thereby improve the transparency of football operations.
It is obvious that the opportunity they have been waiting for for so many years has finally come!