The Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore was not joking when he said he would revive plans for an extra round of premiership matches at a later date. The cynics may argue this latest resurfacing of old news has nothing to do with English football fans warming to the idea. Instead it has everything to do with the PL making more money. The global credit crunch and banking crisis means lots of clubs face an uncertain future. Scudamore seems to have taken the opportunity to capitalize on that uncertainty by bringing up game 39 once again.
English football is supposedly £3 billion in debt. They say money talks so waving a financial carrot in the current economic climate may well tempt some club chairmen. Most football club owners were originally against the idea of playing an extra premiership match abroad. Even if the Premier League was to agree on bringing in game 39 there would still be obstacles. The Football Association not to mention the rest of footballs governing bodies UEFA and FIFA would all be firmly against it.
The UEFA president Michel Platini has been fiercely critical of the level of debt incurred by many premiership clubs. Hence, it is fair to say that both he and FIFA president Sepp Blatter would remain opposed to the plans. There is no doubt that most people within football and the vast majority of fans do not want an extra game. This is because it would be played in a distant foreign country with only a few able to attend. It would be a blatant money making exercise which is why domestic fans oppose the idea.
The more the proposals are examined, the more far fetched and unworkable they seem. The premiership is the top tier of English football and its identity belongs here. If clubs want to play on the other side of the world, they can do so on pre-season tours. They should not interrupt a domestic season to accommodate an extra round of money spinning matches. Even though English football is around £3billion in debt it would appear that Richard Scudamore is still in a small minority of people who actually want game 39. Even though he faces stiff opposition, it is hard to see this deadlock being broken any time soon.
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