The art of wasting time, that trick that not only serves to buy time (long live the paradoxes!) but also to unsettle the opponent and break the rhythm of the game, football has not invented it: it is one of the favorite weapons of many politicians.
Mariano Rajoy was addicted to the tactic of not making decisions in the hope that time would end up solving the problems, even at the risk of burning his hands from stirring the hot potatoes so much.
Boris Johnson is another great artist of the time.
Many believe that if he is still prime minister it is because Scotland Yard decided at the last minute to intervene in the Downing Street party scandal during the pandemic lockdowns: the first consequence of the police entering the scene was to stop time,
which has reduced the pressure on the prime minister and has allowed new factors to come into play, such as the war in Ukraine.
Buying time, however, is not always a guarantee of success because it gives the opponent more chances to score a goal in stoppage time.
Now, Boris Johnson seems determined to fool around with the reform of the Premier League, although at first glance it seems rather the opposite because the Conservative government announced last week its support for the reform proposals published in November by Conservative MP Tracey Crouch, at the time government official for British sport.
The problem is that Johnson has given his support, but has not announced any timetable and has instead proposed to launch a new report, a White Paper that should be published before the fall.
That, according to the Labor opposition, means that there will be no reform until at least 2024. Even MP Crouch, who declares herself "absolutely delighted" by the government's support for her proposals, warns that delays in its implementation "can be catastrophic ”.
The reform is a consequence of the financial problems suffered by the most modest teams, which in 2019 led to the disappearance of a historic club, Bury, and the unease caused by the initial support that the greats of the Premier gave in their day to the creation of the European Super League.
The great novelty of the reform would be the creation of an independent regulator that would have legal powers to grant or cancel licenses to clubs and investigate their finances.
It is also proposed that the fans have a voice and some vote (veto rights in matters such as the sale of the stadium or the club's colors and shield, for example) and to implement a more rigorous system of checking the past of the owners or would-be club owners.
The idea is to place special emphasis on the origin of their income, a particularly topical issue after the acquisition of Newcastle by a Saudi Arabian consortium and the expulsion of Roman Abramovich from Chelsea, and of British public life in general and the economy in particular. .
Behind all this, what beats is the growing difference between the big six in the Premier (Arsenal, City, Chelsea, Liverpool, Tottenham and United) and everyone else.
The big ones want to increase their privileges.
The little guys want a bigger piece of the financial pie.
The deputy Crouch has proposed a fee that taxes transfers and distribute that money among all to give priority to the base of the soccer pyramid, but the Government has said that this is a matter that the clubs must decide on their own.
An indication perhaps that, at the moment of truth, the Government does not intend to be as radical as it seems now.
The Premier League has given its support to the generic idea of the need to reform, but is strongly opposed to the key point of the independent regulator.
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