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The BeNeLiga looked like it might finally become Europe’s first joint, cross-border soccer league. Read more here.
It was also especially welcome news due to the European Super League brainwave which is still somehow floating about.
How close were we? Well, back in March 2021, all professional football teams in Belgium voted in favour of forming the BeNeLiga.
Yet it takes two to tango and that’s what’s untilately done in the BeNeLiga dream sadly.
Why has the BeNeLiga failed?
However, nearly a year of talks and negotiations later, the hopes of the BeNeLiga have died after top teams in the Netherlands pulled out of negotiations.
The top six Dutch clubs who were positioned to enter the BeNeLiga, Ajax, Feyenoord, PSV, FC Utrecht, AZ Alkmaar, and Vitesse determined that there isn’t enough support among them, and other Dutch clubs to form the league.
A statement from the Eredivisie claimed, “The Dutch top clubs are now stopping the project because the necessary support within Dutch football is lacking.”
It’s unclear why there is such little support from the Dutch teams. Especially when Belgium was so overwhelmingly supportive of the project.
My take?
In the face of the Premier League behemoth whivh has long since surpassed other, “stronger” leagues like LaLiga and Serie A, Dutch and Belgian football needed this joint league badly.
The teams themselves would benefit greatly both on and off the pitch. From a financial point of view, playing other, elite teams in competitive games would bring more eyes and money to the club whilst improving the standard of football on display each week. It also would have been a test-bed for future join leagues, but alas, it wasn’t to be.
Will there ever be a joint European Football League?
There may not be any current cross-border European domestic football leagues yet. However, the European Super League came close to forming last year before a huge backlash from fans and the general public.
But recently the Confederation of African Football announced a new African Super League. Read more on that here.
The League will likely consist of 24 clubs from 16 different African nations. There will be three groups that play a round robin, before the top teams from each group advance to an American-style knockout tournament.
It’s also been stated that there would be a promtion and relegation aspect to the league, which would keep the competitive spirit alive.
So, come August 2023, this will be the first cross-nation domestic club competition in men’s football. And something that many other countries and football associations would like to replicate in Europe.
But the breakdown of the BeNeLiga has suffered a blow to other potential cross-border leagues in development.
The Atlantic Football League looks as far away as ever
An “Atlantic Football League” has been discussed back and forth since 2001. And brief talks started again with rumored approval for Scottish teams to kick off a joint league.
The Atlantic league would involve teams from the Scandinavian countries as well as Ireland and Scotland. Teams in the Netherlands, Denmark, and Belgium have also been rumored to be involved in the past. But again, there are currently no formal negotiations ongoing that we know of.
As is evident, forming such a combined European league is very difficult.
The current leagues in Europe are so set in stone that getting a team to “break away” is a complicated task. The formation of such leagues also takes the approval of UEFA and has to jump through other hoops whilst adhering to European Law.
The desire to create a combined league is there, from players to fans, especially as some league’s financial muscle simply overpowers the rest.
It will happen. It might just take some time for the clubs to check their egos at the door and look at the bigger picture.
