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Kieran Maguire: Scandal puts £60m Celtic 'benefits' at risk
The creation of a European Super League could provide ‘benefits’ for Celtic but it would be ‘very challenging’ for the club to compete.
That is the view of finance expert Kieran Maguire, who spoke exclusively to Football Insider about the latest proposal from A22 Sports Management.
The creation of a Super League continues to rumble on in the background, with organisers A22 putting forward plans for a competition with four divisions and 80 teams involved in February.
Spanish duo Real Madrid and Barcelona are two of the remaining three Super League teams pushing for the plans alongside Juventus, but they have both become tangled in a dispute after it emerged that Barcelona had made payments towards a referee.
Barcelona made payments to top Spanish referee Jose Maria Enrique Negreira between 2001 and 2018.
Football Insider sources revealed on Thursday (20 April) that the Super League project is confident it will not be derailed by infighting between its member clubs.
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Documents seen by this site show that A22 has told clubs that they can double their European revenues, which if true would mean the two Glasgow sides would be in line for annual Super League income of £60m.
Maguire believes Celtic are one of the only teams that could be boosted by the Super League’s creation but insists that overall the project ‘kills the ambition of clubs’.
“A22 are the fifth columnists of European football,” Maguire told Football Insider.
“They’re famed for wanting a European league which would see the likes of Leicester start the competition in the fourth tier.
“It completely kills the ambition of clubs chasing the top four in England.
“It could however provide benefits for Celtic – although I imagine Celtic would much rather qualify for the equivalent of the Champions League which I think would be very challenging for them if there were around 18 teams per division.
“The proposals, once examined, don’t benefit clubs apart from the fact that it entrenches an elite class and a middle class, quashing many aspirational clubs looking to grow.“
In other news, Celtic and Sunderland race to sign 24-year-old