Spurs: Crazy man Crazy; has UEFA lost the plot?

Spurs: Crazy man Crazy; has UEFA lost the plot?

A new UEFA rule may yet rob us of our 20/21 Europa League spot. Yes, you've heard it correctly.

As you all know, we embark on our European journey once the new season starts, but much earlier than projected as Arsenal outflanked Chelsea to win the FA Cup final. All this means is that we will have to navigate three qualification games. Simples, so far. But due to the packed together schedule, this is because of the COVID-19 pandemic, all three of our qualification matches, the first of which will be held on September 17, will be one-legged affairs. So; we've not only got to blame Chelsea but COVID-19 as well for putting us in that position.

On top of all that muddleness, it has been just divulged that an inexplicable rule change by the powers that be could yet cost us a place in the competition before we even kicked a ball.

Because of several travel restrictions imposed as a result of the pandemic, UEFA have decided that if a home team's country restricts travel from the country of the visiting team after the draw has been made, then "the home team must forfeit the game." Yes, you've heard it correctly, because of no fault of our own we could be thrown out of the competition before we've even had a look in. What sort of madness is this? It is not that the club has a choice in the matter and we could be punished for it.

In simple terms; it means that should our country restrict our travel from the country of the team we have drawn, then our opponents will progress to the next round and we will lose that game without even playing in the said game.

Now, UEFA's logic behind his madness is as follows, "to guarantee as much as possible the start and continuity of the qualifying phase and play-offs of the 2020/21 UEFA Champions League and 2020/21 UEFA Europa League". Got it?

The pertinent rule states: "Restrictions imposed by the national/local authorities of either club in a tie after the deadline for the clubs to inform the UEFA administration in accordance with paragraph I.1.1 shall, in principle, not be taken into account. In such cases, the club whose national/local authorities have imposed restrictions preventing the match from taking place as scheduled will be held responsible and the match will be declared by the UEFA Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body to be forfeited by such club, which will be considered to have lost it 3-0."

My thoughts on this lunacy

Well, apart from it being madness of the highest order, it basically means that the governing body could punish teams from countries who have handled the pandemic better than some other countries. It won't only just affect us but every team in this country; champions league as well. I would have thought if intelligence played a part in their thinking, sympathy and understanding should be made if such a  possibility comes into play. But no!

Why not have played the game at a neutral venue or something like that? This is just bureaucracy gone out of control. Little people with big guns having fuck all else to do but sit in an office playing monopoly with teams financial anxieties.

This would be devastating for any club that has qualified and then found out that they've been unqualified because something they've got no control over. Those people are brain dead. How do such idiots get control of such powerful organisation, such as UEFA, and then fuck around with clubs and fans lives?

UEFA and FIFA have been hit by scandal after scandal. Still, their focus has always been on their position, their money and their wealth without any regards to why they are actually there… which is not about them, but football, the game and the supporters. The Glory, but not their Glory.

If they are faced with this madness, what will the clubs do? Take the authorities to court? How about a mass strike? Sadly, I doubt it. These organisations only concern themselves in how to piss everybody off, but when it comes to more severe things like racism or far-right obstruction they just take token action… a mild fine or a one-off ban, but these lunatics carry on marching forward with immunity.

I know this isn't UEFA, but A federal prosecutor in Switzerland said on Thursday that he had opened a criminal investigation into Gianni Infantino, the president of FIFA, after concluding that there were "indications of criminal conduct" in meetings between Infantino and an official overseeing an investigation into soccer corruption. And he/ they took over from a corrupt head, promising to clean up FIFA's act.

I recently saw this headline "Greed Is Destroying European Football, but Too Many Don't See It as a Problem." And the reason for this is because those in charge, whether that be UEFA, FIFA or the English FA or any FA, are sitting comfortably and lining their pockets with crazy wages and bonuses (which they give themselves). These influential organisations are cash cows for the hierarchy. Sheer Madness!

Best regards, Glenn