Football finance expert Kieran Maguire has warned clubs about the reason for potentially controversial changes to the Champions League. It comes shortly after reports claimed there is a possibility that UEFA could explore playing games in the competition outside of Europe and in other nations.
At this stage, it's merely an idea rather than anything put into practice, especially at a stage where the competition is set to change format entirely from a group stage to knockout system to a Swiss-style tournament. While it will be seen as a way to try and target the global audience, Maguire has warned that it will surround the issue of making more money.
"I think this is part of a much broader issue with regards to how our club owners in particular are going to extract more money from the game," he said on his podcast called The Price of Football. "If you've got a home fixture at Old Trafford or the Bernabeu and so on, your regular season ticket holders there's a fixed amount they are prepared to pay.
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"If you decide to take those matches to New York or Beijing or Sydney, and we saw this Liverpool versus Manchester United friendly which took place in Thailand over the course of the summer, you can charge what you want because there will be people there saying 'Well this could be my only chance of getting to see Real Madrid play in a competitive game for many many years'."
As Maguire mentions, the globalisation of football has been an ever-increasing force in the game, from official accounts in other languages to pre-season tours and friendlies in other countries. While the moving of competitive fixtures would take it to another level, it would leave behind the existing home support, especially for sides like Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham, who will be hoping to compete in the competition.
He continues: "The prospect of Liverpool, what he [a season ticket holder] considers, playing a home fixture against opponents [in another country] is completely against the grain of how we perceive football to be. But club owners don't perceive football to be that way, or should we say some club owners, especially the American owners.
"This isn't being xenophobic, the American owners see football as a global sport, as a global form of entertainment and want to take it to a global audience. We see football clubs as representation of our individual towns and cities, part of our history, culture, heritage, all of those things that we hold so dear.
"You know, the badge, the colour of the shirt, the stadium and everything that goes with it. But, the owners want to make more money out of football."
It marks a similar type of issue laid out by that of the European Super League, where it appeared as though existing fans - labelled as "legacy fans" - were cut out of the equation. Maguire's comments also mirrored that of pundit Gary Neville, who took to Twitter to warn others of what he perceived as danger from new American owners.
Maguire then adds an eerie warning to what could be next for the domestic game: "If that's successful from a UEFA point of view, where does that leave the Premier League?"
It leaves the game at a fragile point of its existence, where money has become such a crucial factor in balancing the overall football experience that has elevated it to the game that is widely adored. Those who make the decisions may have to tread carefully with their next moves so as to not cause irreversible damage.
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