Celtic and Rangers sent warning by Kieran Maguire after lawsuit filed
Kieran Maguire has urged Celtic and Rangers to think twice before joining a cross-border league.
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, the finance expert suggested the Old Firm clubs would struggle to consistently qualify for European competition under such a format.
According to the Daily Mail (6 August), Luxembourg side FC Swift Hesperange have filed a lawsuit against Europe’s governing body and their own Football Federation.
It comes after the club’s attempt to join a proposed Benelux League with teams from the Netherlands and Belgium was hampered.
Bosman lawyer Jean-Louis Dupont has suggested Scotland’s top clubs could benefit from the new legal challenge to UEFA’s cross-border league rules.
When asked by Football Insider for his reaction to the news, Maguire said: “It has to be a careful balancing act.
“First of all, the league itself has to be competitive.
“If we are looking at Scotland, Scandinavia, Netherlands and Belgium, at present Scotland have one guaranteed place in the Champions League and another that comes up through the play-offs.
“If you have a combined league you might only get a couple of places for the combined league. Then, all of a sudden, you have Ajax, PSV Eindhoven, Celtic, Rangers and Anderlecht all competing for one or two places in the Champions League. Previously, they might have been guaranteed.
“The domestic football would be more intriguing and more exciting but you would have to balance the benefit of that with the potential negative consequences of not regularly qualifying for Europe.
“Being in Europe is really critical to the finances of Scottish clubs. The Scottish domestic TV deal is relatively modest.”
In other news, Celtic have been backed to complete the signing of Ross Barkley after source’s ‘big’ reveal.