{"id":22375,"date":"2018-07-26T09:57:51","date_gmt":"2018-07-26T07:57:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.accuracy.com\/football-episode-2-inexorable-concentration-european-football\/"},"modified":"2024-01-30T18:08:03","modified_gmt":"2024-01-30T17:08:03","slug":"football-episode-2-inexorable-concentration-european-football","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.accuracy.com\/en_gb\/football-episode-2-inexorable-concentration-european-football\/","title":{"rendered":"Football Episode 2 &#8211; The inexorable concentration of European football"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Third author :<br \/>\nFranck Bancel (Academic Advisor)<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>The financial means necessary to be competitive in the Champions League are beyond the reach of most clubs.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>European football is based on a pyramid structure. At the bottom, we find each country\u2019s amateur clubs; at the top, we find the clubs in the top division. This structure relies on the idea that there is a certain \u2018permeability\u2019 between amateur football and professional football. Even if it remains a rare achievement, an amateur football team is supposed to be able to beat any professional club, particularly during the national championships organised in different European countries.<\/p>\n<p>This pyramid structure is in stark contrast to the concept of the closed league, which characterises professional sport in North America (NBA, NFL, etc.). By definition, teams involved in a closed league do not face potential relegations to lower divisions. The organisation of North-American closed leagues depends on an entire regulatory system, which aims to guarantee fairness among the clubs. At the end of each season, the best university players are spread among the professional teams by random draw that favours the lower-classed teams (\u2018draft\u2019).<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #008080;\"><strong>1. THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE, AT FIRST GLANCE, OPEN\u2026<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>European football urges the continuation of the open-league system. However, this masks a very different reality. Professional football is characterised today by a concentration of financial means amongst a limited number of clubs. These large clubs are now only in competition with each other, as would be the case in a closed league.<\/p>\n<p>UEFA, nonetheless, launched \u2018financial fair play\u2019 in 2010 but without directly regulating the conditions of sporting fairness. The large European clubs can buy the most talented players, maintain huge teams of staff and have at their disposal all the means necessary to ensure their sole domination in the sport.<\/p>\n<p>The Champions League, the most prestigious of football competitions in Europe, is the perfect example. At first glance, all teams in the Champions League are supposed to be able to win it. However, when we look at the past twenty years of the competition, instead of seeing this glorious uncertainty, we see the significant strengthening of the place of certain countries and certain clubs.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #008080;\"><strong>2. LESS SPACE FOR \u2018SMALL\u2019 FOOTBALLING NATIONS<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>According to one Accur\u2019League study, between 1995 and 2001, only 25% of the Champions League quarter-finalists were not from the \u2018big five\u2019 European leagues (England, France, Germany, Italy and Spain). Since 2002, this average percentage stands at only 13%.<\/p>\n<p>At the semi-final level, the presence of a club from a \u2018small\u2019 footballing nation becomes something of a statistical anomaly \u2013 since 2005, only PSV Eindhoven has reached this stage of the competition. The financial means necessary to be competitive in the Champions League are beyond the reach of most clubs. If we observe the clubs having participated in the Champions League over the past ten years, we note that the revenues of clubs in the quarter-finals average \u20ac248 million, the revenues of clubs in the semi-finals average \u20ac348 million and the revenues of the winner average at \u20ac379 million.<\/p>\n<p>From 2018, the top four countries in the UEFA index (Spain, England, Germany and Italy) will automatically have four teams participating in the league. This reform will further reduce the risk of non-participation for clubs in these four countries, and they will then be able to make even larger investments.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #008080;\"><strong>3. CONCLUSION<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>The Champions League already resembles a closed league, and this trend should become even more pronounced over the next few years.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h6><em>Article from Les Echos &#8211; 05\/08\/2017<\/em><\/h6>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Third author : Franck Bancel (Academic Advisor) &nbsp; The financial means necessary to be competitive in the Champions League are beyond the reach of most clubs. European football is based on a pyramid structure. At the bottom, we find each country\u2019s amateur clubs; at the top, we find the clubs in the top division. This [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22376,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[122],"tags":[174],"class_list":["post-22375","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-perspectives","tag-perspectives"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v28.1 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Football Episode 2 - The inexorable concentration of European football - Accuracy<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.accuracy.com\/en_gb\/football-episode-2-inexorable-concentration-european-football\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Football Episode 2 - The inexorable concentration of European football\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Third author : Franck Bancel (Academic Advisor) &nbsp; The financial means necessary to be competitive in the Champions League are beyond the reach of most clubs. European football is based on a pyramid structure. At the bottom, we find each country\u2019s amateur clubs; at the top, we find the clubs in the top division. This [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.accuracy.com\/en_gb\/football-episode-2-inexorable-concentration-european-football\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Accuracy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-07-26T07:57:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-01-30T17:08:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.accuracy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/2.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1170\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"550\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"dev\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"dev\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.accuracy.com\\\/en_gb\\\/football-episode-2-inexorable-concentration-european-football\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.accuracy.com\\\/en_gb\\\/football-episode-2-inexorable-concentration-european-football\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"dev\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.accuracy.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8cfdef62d7af45536d2b7b45979f72e7\"},\"headline\":\"Football Episode 2 &#8211; The inexorable concentration of European football\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-07-26T07:57:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-01-30T17:08:03+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.accuracy.com\\\/en_gb\\\/football-episode-2-inexorable-concentration-european-football\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":584,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.accuracy.com\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.accuracy.com\\\/en_gb\\\/football-episode-2-inexorable-concentration-european-football\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.accuracy.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/04\\\/2.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Perspectives\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Perspectives\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.accuracy.com\\\/en_gb\\\/football-episode-2-inexorable-concentration-european-football\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.accuracy.com\\\/en_gb\\\/football-episode-2-inexorable-concentration-european-football\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.accuracy.com\\\/en_gb\\\/football-episode-2-inexorable-concentration-european-football\\\/\",\"name\":\"Football Episode 2 - The inexorable concentration of European football - Accuracy\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.accuracy.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.accuracy.com\\\/en_gb\\\/football-episode-2-inexorable-concentration-european-football\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.accuracy.com\\\/en_gb\\\/football-episode-2-inexorable-concentration-european-football\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.accuracy.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/04\\\/2.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-07-26T07:57:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-01-30T17:08:03+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.accuracy.com\\\/en_gb\\\/football-episode-2-inexorable-concentration-european-football\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.accuracy.com\\\/en_gb\\\/football-episode-2-inexorable-concentration-european-football\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.accuracy.com\\\/en_gb\\\/football-episode-2-inexorable-concentration-european-football\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.accuracy.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/04\\\/2.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.accuracy.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/04\\\/2.jpg\",\"width\":1170,\"height\":550},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.accuracy.com\\\/en_gb\\\/football-episode-2-inexorable-concentration-european-football\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Accueil\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.accuracy.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Football Episode 2 &#8211; The inexorable concentration of European football\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.accuracy.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.accuracy.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Accuracy\",\"description\":\"Business Advisers - Financial Consultants\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.accuracy.com\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.accuracy.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.accuracy.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Accuracy\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.accuracy.com\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.accuracy.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.accuracy.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/08\\\/unnamed-3.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.accuracy.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/08\\\/unnamed-3.jpg\",\"width\":512,\"height\":512,\"caption\":\"Accuracy\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.accuracy.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/company\\\/accuracy\\\/?originalSubdomain=fr\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/accuracycareers\\\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.accuracy.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8cfdef62d7af45536d2b7b45979f72e7\",\"name\":\"dev\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f1ffcac9ca2fa95ad3ec33e9be3ade82f752acb0cabe541e56c5889225afa88a?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f1ffcac9ca2fa95ad3ec33e9be3ade82f752acb0cabe541e56c5889225afa88a?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f1ffcac9ca2fa95ad3ec33e9be3ade82f752acb0cabe541e56c5889225afa88a?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"caption\":\"dev\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.accuracy.com\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Football Episode 2 - The inexorable concentration of European football - Accuracy","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.accuracy.com\/en_gb\/football-episode-2-inexorable-concentration-european-football\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Football Episode 2 - The inexorable concentration of European football","og_description":"Third author : Franck Bancel (Academic Advisor) &nbsp; The financial means necessary to be competitive in the Champions League are beyond the reach of most clubs. European football is based on a pyramid structure. At the bottom, we find each country\u2019s amateur clubs; at the top, we find the clubs in the top division. This [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.accuracy.com\/en_gb\/football-episode-2-inexorable-concentration-european-football\/","og_site_name":"Accuracy","article_published_time":"2018-07-26T07:57:51+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-01-30T17:08:03+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1170,"height":550,"url":"https:\/\/www.accuracy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/2.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"dev","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"dev","Estimated reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.accuracy.com\/en_gb\/football-episode-2-inexorable-concentration-european-football\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.accuracy.com\/en_gb\/football-episode-2-inexorable-concentration-european-football\/"},"author":{"name":"dev","@id":"https:\/\/www.accuracy.com\/#\/schema\/person\/8cfdef62d7af45536d2b7b45979f72e7"},"headline":"Football Episode 2 &#8211; The inexorable concentration of European football","datePublished":"2018-07-26T07:57:51+00:00","dateModified":"2024-01-30T17:08:03+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.accuracy.com\/en_gb\/football-episode-2-inexorable-concentration-european-football\/"},"wordCount":584,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.accuracy.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.accuracy.com\/en_gb\/football-episode-2-inexorable-concentration-european-football\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.accuracy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/2.jpg","keywords":["Perspectives"],"articleSection":["Perspectives"],"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.accuracy.com\/en_gb\/football-episode-2-inexorable-concentration-european-football\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.accuracy.com\/en_gb\/football-episode-2-inexorable-concentration-european-football\/","url":"https:\/\/www.accuracy.com\/en_gb\/football-episode-2-inexorable-concentration-european-football\/","name":"Football Episode 2 - The inexorable concentration of European football - Accuracy","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.accuracy.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.accuracy.com\/en_gb\/football-episode-2-inexorable-concentration-european-football\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.accuracy.com\/en_gb\/football-episode-2-inexorable-concentration-european-football\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.accuracy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/2.jpg","datePublished":"2018-07-26T07:57:51+00:00","dateModified":"2024-01-30T17:08:03+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.accuracy.com\/en_gb\/football-episode-2-inexorable-concentration-european-football\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.accuracy.com\/en_gb\/football-episode-2-inexorable-concentration-european-football\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.accuracy.com\/en_gb\/football-episode-2-inexorable-concentration-european-football\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.accuracy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/2.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.accuracy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/2.jpg","width":1170,"height":550},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.accuracy.com\/en_gb\/football-episode-2-inexorable-concentration-european-football\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Accueil","item":"https:\/\/www.accuracy.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Football Episode 2 &#8211; The inexorable concentration of European football"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.accuracy.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.accuracy.com\/","name":"Accuracy","description":"Business Advisers - Financial Consultants","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.accuracy.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.accuracy.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.accuracy.com\/#organization","name":"Accuracy","url":"https:\/\/www.accuracy.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.accuracy.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.accuracy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/unnamed-3.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.accuracy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/unnamed-3.jpg","width":512,"height":512,"caption":"Accuracy"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.accuracy.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/accuracy\/?originalSubdomain=fr","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/accuracycareers\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.accuracy.com\/#\/schema\/person\/8cfdef62d7af45536d2b7b45979f72e7","name":"dev","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f1ffcac9ca2fa95ad3ec33e9be3ade82f752acb0cabe541e56c5889225afa88a?s=96&d=blank&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f1ffcac9ca2fa95ad3ec33e9be3ade82f752acb0cabe541e56c5889225afa88a?s=96&d=blank&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f1ffcac9ca2fa95ad3ec33e9be3ade82f752acb0cabe541e56c5889225afa88a?s=96&d=blank&r=g","caption":"dev"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.accuracy.com"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.accuracy.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22375","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.accuracy.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.accuracy.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.accuracy.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.accuracy.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22375"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.accuracy.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22375\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40995,"href":"https:\/\/www.accuracy.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22375\/revisions\/40995"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.accuracy.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22376"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.accuracy.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22375"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.accuracy.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22375"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.accuracy.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22375"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}