Goals are millions

The two finalists in the Champions League are English teams. Moreover, England was the only country that had all their representatives in the quarterfinals and semifinals three of them to fight for the world's most prestigious trophy at club level. But if some teams have in common is not their style of play, or anything that has to do with what happens in the field. In the birthplace of football, the sport has become a business outside England.

Every weekend, English cities are paralyzed to see their teams play. A football game reaches dimensions in other countries can be seen as strange, even exaggerated. The bars are full of people, the streets are filled with fans who do not stop singing, preparing for 90 minutes in which to live and only 22 players, one ball and sometimes an unwelcome arbitrator. Already said Bill Shankly, Liverpool history: "Football is not a matter of life or death, is much more than that." It could not be more correct your statement. English football is also a question of money.

Of the 20 teams that make up the Premier League (English Premiership), 12 are controlled and managed by foreign capital, including three of the top four in the standings, and successful so far in the Champions League. Chelsea was the pioneer. Russian Roman Abramovich, an oil tycoon close to Vladimir Putin, bought the London club for 220 million dollars, and until this season, has spent 1,130 million between signings, wages and layoffs. Manchester United bought him in 2005 Malcolm Glazer, an American billionaire, who owns an oil company that bought the Bush family, which then became a producer of oil and fish protein. In addition, controls a football franchise. Since arriving in Manchester, has aroused the ire of fans: it has increased the price of tickets and has placed in leadership positions to their children, whom the fans have come to attack your computer to see another franchise becomes American. The same goes for Liverpool, bought by Americans Tom Hicks, who has funded campaigns for George W. Bush, and George Gillet. They have already agreed the next collapse of the legendary Anfield Road stadium to build a new one that will be called a trademark.

The Premier League is Europe's most-watched league in the world and the most exploited overseas market. Almost all teams millions in Asia on tour during the preseason, and Cristiano Ronaldo, Gerrard, Fabregas and Drogba have been superseded to Raul, Beckham, Figo and Zidane of yesteryear. But, why this sudden expansion is due? The reason people like Thaksin Shinawatra, former Prime Minister of Thailand and exiled in the UK for crimes of corruption, invest in this soccer is explained in two words: television rights.

After signing the contract with the operator issuing the Premier League, its teams receive a total of 5,500 million euros in three years. The team that finishes in last place in the standings in the league receives about 40 million euros for the season, much more than they receive most Spanish teams. The winner will pocket 91 million, a figure matched only by the 120 who receive the Real Madrid each season his contract with the Catalan production company Mediapro.

The black money laundering or the use of computers as speculative tools may be other reasons to invest. In fact, Liverpool's owners are negotiating with a Dubai capital fund selling the club, just a year after purchase. To the detriment of the national teams, leagues more millions around the world care about their players, even when they are minors, a situation which has denounced the current UEFA president Michel Platini. Now that football has generated so much money you can buy at any computer, can you buy feelings?

Javier García Wardrobe

Journalist

ccs@solidarios.org.es