The movie "The Rise and Crash of the Super League" (broadcast on yes docu and STINGTV) manages to respond in almost real time to the biggest farce that European football has known in recent years.
As you may recall, 12 of the leading teams in world football have decided to create their own "Premier League", and in fact empty local football of their content.
The drama lasted a very short time, before the UEFA for its part launched a swift legal action against the teams, and at the same time the English fans took to the streets to protest the establishment of the league and the demolition of the best football league in the world - the English League. Executed.
In a fascinating conversation with the film's director, Carl Hindmarsh, a passive fan of Leeds United, it is clear that he managed to produce a film that deals with football, but precisely because of his distance from the game he produced a dramatic action film, in which the good overcomes the bad.
Only this time it is a documentary and not a pre-written script.
The film reveals what happened behind the scenes of the "Super League" but also what happened around the production of the film. How hard was it to get interviewees for this film?
"Everyone who watches the film sees that the people of Juventus, Real Madrid and Barcelona were not interviewed of course. Those who were interviewed managed to produce for us a film that is built for me as a revenge film for all intents and purposes. I did not feel like football but something bigger. "It's like watching a movie with Jason Bourne avenging all the bad guys."
Karl Heindmarch.
"There is hope", Photo: From Twitter
One of the notable differences in the film is of course the matter where the English went to war over their football, and the Spaniards and Italians, who are teams that are more connected to the government, immediately accepted the verdict and did not think to go against their management.
"It was important for me to convey something in their silence: that they are not being interviewed, that their audiences stayed at home. But think about it, Real have always belonged in some connection to the administration. Juventus started as a business for everything because its owners also owned Fiat. In England football - despite entry Of the big money - belongs to the people. "
Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister of England, testifies in the film about himself as a conservative and capitalist who goes against this idea, which also surprises him.
"He made some mistakes when it came to his attitude to football, but in the end he was the first prime minister to come out against this plan, while in Spain and Italy the prime ministers chose not to intervene. He did something big here."
There are some fascinating characters in the film, but I was pleasantly surprised by Alexander Chaprin, the president of the UEFA - both as a television character but also as a leader in the world of football.
"Absolutely. We understood right away when he spoke that he is something special, and one should not understand too much in football for that. I think he also gives football hope in the way he fights the corrupt, in the way he came out against this idea with all the tools he has and out of inner integrity. Seeing names like Sepp Blatter, for example, you see the huge difference between them. "
Chaprin (right) and Peres, Photo: Getty Images
He constantly uses words like "clean" to describe the difference between him and the people of FIFA, who at first supported the idea and then understood where the wind was blowing. He says things that are not easy in the film.
"Certainly, these are very strong sentences what he says there, but he also builds for himself the name of a leader. The very fact that he was elected by representatives from the same football world - that he himself says there are corrupt people - shows that there may be hope for play and fairness."
When I finished watching the movie I had a confused feeling. On the one hand the danger has been repelled, on the other hand who assures us that Florentino Perez and the Anieli family will not try to take over world football again?
"I prefer to look at the half full glass. Aniley and this bunch did not believe they would set up the football fans in the world. The power with which the weak reacted and ousted the strong, just as sometimes happens in football, is what makes it the most popular game in the world. "This one for the near future. But is the shark still in the water? Certainly."
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