The UEFA Champions League: a political myth?

ABSTRACT

Discussing the UEFA Champions League (CL) as a political myth, we want to focus on specific renderings of this continent-wide competition in club football. Two broad narratives are identified in this article: a unifying one that seems to contribute to the formation of a positive Champions League myth in terms of (political) integration across Europe; and a negative one that suggests that the CL is a driver for (over-)commercialization and a threat for the integrity of ‘true’/traditional football. We argue that these two CL narratives do not seem to (completely) neutralize each other. While fans may be alienated by the commercialization triggered through the Champions League, at the same time the CL may have a unifying effect by widening perspectives, fostering a common continental communicative space, or constituting an engine of lived integration.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Holt, ‘Global Success in Sport’.

2. King, The European Ritual.

3. Niemann and Brand, ‘Europeanisation from below?’.

4. Koenig, ‘Champions League: Der Mythos bröckelt’.

5. Moulton, ‘Political Myths and How to Study them’.

6. Flood, Political Myth.

7. cf. Becker‚ ‘Begriff und Bedeutung des politischen Mythos’; Hein-Kircher‚ ‚Politische Mythen‘.

8. Moulton, ‘Political Myths and How to Study them’.

9. Holt, 2009, 22.

10. Geeraert, The EU in International Sports Governance, 14.

11. Geeraert, The EU in International Sports Governance.

12. Foster, ‘Can Sport be Regulated in Europe’, 53.

13. Geeraert and Drieskens, ‘The EU controls FIFA and UEFA’, 1459.

14. García, ‘UEFA and the European Union’.

15. European Commission, ‘Decision Relating to a Proceeding Pursuant to Article 81 of the EC Treaty’.

16. García, ‘UEFA and the European Union’.

17. European Commission, ‘White Paper on Sport’.

18. Lynam, ‘UEFA’s Home-Grown Player Rule’.

19. García, ‘UEFA and the European Union’, 218.

20. King, ‘The new symbols of European football’; García, ‘UEFA and the European Union’, 219; Geeraert, The EU in International Sports Governance, 70.

21. Brand and Niemann, ‘Europeanisation in the Societal/Trans-National Realm’, 193.

22. Sonntag, ‘8:45 – the European hour’.

23. Holt, ‘Global Success in Sport’, 51 & 54.

24. ZDF; ‘Mythos Champions League’, our translation.

25. King, ‘Football Fandom and Post-National Identity in the New Europe’; The European Ritual’; ‘The New Symbols of European football’.

26. King, ‘Football Fandom and Post-National Identity in the New Europe’, 427; our emphasis.

27. King, ‘Football Fandom and Post-National Identity in the New Europe’, 436–7.

28. Holt, UEFA, Governance, and the Control of Club Competition in European Football, 29.

29. Brand and Niemann, ‘ECJ Rulings or Wayne Rooney’s hair’.

30. Niemann and Brand, ‘Europeanisation from below?’, 10.

31. Millward, The Global Football League.

32. MasterCard, ‘Fans without Borders Study 2012ʹ.

33. Federmair & Selmer, ‘Zwanzig Jahre Revolution’.

34. cf. Neidhardt, ‘Öffentlichkeit, öffentliche Meinung, soziale Bewegungen’, 7; de Beus‚ The European Union and the Public Sphere’.

35. Holt et al., ‘Introduction: Sport in Europe 1950–2010.’, 6.

36. Economist‚ ‘How Football Unites Europe’.

37. FREE = Football Research in an Enlarged Europe, 2012–15.

38. Sonntag, ‘8:45 – the European hour’ our emphases’.

39. Hill, ‘A European Language’.

40. Audience measurement in various European contexts is a commercial activity with considerable prices to be paid for obtaining longer-term quality data. Therefore, we had to resort to the sparse data from the public domain.

41. Niemann and Brand, ‘Europeanisation from below?’.

42. Meedia, ‘BR trumpft mit „Nockherberg“ auf, Leverkusen quotenschwächstes Champions-League-Team’; Quotenmeter‚ ‘ZDF: Quotenschmaus trotz Bayern-Aus’.

43. The Sunday Times, ‘Champions League Final Audience lower than US’.

44. Gibson, ‘Is the Unthinkable Happening’.

45. Sweeney, ‘Sky Sports‘ Champions League’.

46. Hill‚ ‘A European Language’.

47. King‚ ‘Football Fandom and Post-National Identity in the New Europe’.

48. The Economist, ‘How football unites Europe’. Yet, some studies have shown the need to qualify such assumptions. e.g. Cox et al., ‘Myths of Nation in the Champions League’. 2015.

49. FAZ, ‘Europa braucht eine neue Solidarität gegen Mitsprache’.

50. Kopp, ‘CL vernetzt Europa (Ja)’.

51. Niemann and Brand, ‘Europeanisation from below?’, 8–9.

52. cf. King, ‘Football Fandom and Post-national Identity in the New Europe’; ‘The new symbols of European football’.

53. King, ‘The New Symbols of European football’, 324–5.

54. Niemann and Brand‚ ‘Europeanisation from below?’; Brand and Niemann, ‘ECJ rulings or Wayne Rooney’s hair’.

55. cf. García, ‘The Influence of the EU on the Governance of Football’, 37–8.

56. Giulianotti and Robertson, Globalization & Football, 80 & 130.

57. Ibid. 99.

58. Haugen and Solberg, ‘The Financial Crisis in European Football’, 533.

59. SBD, ‘Malaga Faces Huge Game to Qualify for the Champions League’.

60. SBD, ‘Lille Had A Lot On The Line In Its Champions League Qualifying Home Return Against Copenhagen’.

61. Adrian and Schächtele, Immer Wieder, Nimmer Wieder, 165–67.

62. Campbell, ‘Champions League ‘is killing football’.

63. Scherer. ‘Die Gier der Reichen’.

64. Smith‚ ‘When Champions League Cash Tilts the Playing Field’.

65. Peeters, ‘Broadcasting Rights and Competitive Balance in European Soccer’.

66. Behnisch, ‘Schizo’, own translation.

67. Koenig‚ ‘Champions League: Der Mythos bröckelt’, own translation.

68. Biermann, ‘Der Untergang’, own translation.

69. Biermann, 2012.

70. Behnisch, ‘Schizo’, own translation.

71. See also the discussion/fans’ voices reported in Giulianotti, ‘Sports Spectators and the Cocial Consequences of Commidification’.

72. See FC PlayFair ‘Situationsanalyse Profifußball 2017’.

73. While the survey was answered by more than 17.000 participants, the focus groups were based on work with only 25 subjects.

74. Ibid., 10.

75. Ibid.

76. FREE, ‘Survey of Football in European Public Opinion (CATI)’; ‘European Football Fans Survey (Online)’.

77.. FREE, Survey of Football in European Public Opinion (CATI), 52.

78. Ibid., 56.

79. Ibid., 58.

80. FREE, Survey of Football in European Public Opinion (CATI), 15–16.

81. FREE, European Football Fans Survey (Online).

82. FREE, European Football Fans Survey (Online), 24–25.

83. Ibid., 60, 143.

84. e.g. Risse, A community of Europeans.

85. cf. Braun and Tausendpfund, ‘The Impact of the Euro Crisis on Citizens’ Support for the European Union’; Krouwel and Kutiyski, ‘Soft Sceptics and Hard Rejectionists’; de Wilde et al., ‘Converging on Euroscepticism’.

86. Despite the particularity of London and the influence of the urban-rural divide, it is noteworthy that there is a correlation between English clubs’ participating in the CL and the respective cities/towns/districts strongly voting for remain in the 2016 referendum, see Hix, ‘Premier League points against Brexit’.

87. cf. Brand and Niemann ‘ECJ rulings or Wayne Rooney’s hair’.