Fans are no longer just an accessory to football

It was no surprise that Inter fans wanted to express their joy at winning their 19th championship title. The fact that 30.000 then turned the city center of Milan into a madhouse and the requirement to wear a mask and distance were just words without content is the other side of a beautiful coin.

In England, fans also drew attention, although there was no championship celebration before Manchester United's game against Liverpool FC. There, United supporters stormed the Old Trafford stadium to clearly express their displeasure with the structure of their so-called club. The anger was sparked by the proposed creation of the Super League, which was rejected by the majority of fans in Europe. The Super League specter has not disappeared Inter and Manchester United also wanted to take part. Now the plan has initially failed. However, the specter has not completely disappeared, because in this case it is not about some crude idea, but about a business model for clubs that are no longer clubs in the traditional sense.

With the exception of Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, all other teams that wanted to take part in this new football monopoly are in the hands of companies, oligarchs or sheikhs from the Arabian Peninsula. Chinese groups are now also happy to adorn themselves with European associations, which - sorry - are no longer associations because their members have long since been disempowered. We are dealing with operational teams. The new master is Chinese Inter was bought in 2016 by Suning Holdings Group, which produces household appliances and is one of the most successful companies in China. And Manchester United is owned by the corporate empire of the American businessman Joel Glazer, whose father Malcolm once recognized early on that you could make a lot of money with sports clubs with a constant stream of new investors, sales and investments. Without taking traditions into account, of course, because these are only a hindrance when it comes to generating more and more from the capital contributed.

Inter fans celebrate the championship title. © AFP / PIERO CRUCIATTI

The romance is over. The Inter fans forgot this for a moment in their celebration of the victory, which of course also had to do with the fact that it dethroned Juventus after nine titles in a row. But essentially, Inter's fans, like those of Manchester United and everyone else, have been sidelined for a long time. This is being made particularly painfully clear to them right now, when they are not allowed into the stadium. They are just an accessory in the football gear. You can also play without them. Later they should and are allowed to create the atmosphere again and can then live out their passion while drunk on joy, pay for it and then forget for 90 minutes who they are cheering for. For the billionaires they work for. They are then in a good mood, because a good mood is good for business. The club that no longer exists Gradually, however, the fans understand that the ground is being pulled out from under their feet. That's why there was the protest in Manchester, which is of course inexcusable in its form. But many are now realizing that they have lost a part of their lives. Football was a support for them. The club was part of the family, part of social life. It offered topics of conversation and secured the weekends. Feelings and emotions ran high.

The planned Super League has opened many eyes. The new football is just a business and therefore an abstract construct for the fans. Your so-called club is movable business assets. This has long been everyday life in the USA. It sometimes happens that a team changes its location because the owner wants it that way. Then Inter would have to play in Bari. And no, that's not a joke. That would actually be an option if, as I said, the Chinese owners decided to do so.

Well, that probably won't happen. But at least it makes it clear how powerless the fans have become, because that is what it is, the current football world. All that remains for the good old supporters of the former clubs is the self-knitted scarf as a reminder and the old love. That's not much anymore.

Serie A Italy	SP	TV	P
1. Inter	33	79:18	86
2.Milan	33	64:39	69
3. Juventus	33	47:26	64
4.Bologna	33	48:26	62
5. Roma	32	57:38	55
6. Atalanta	32	59:37	54
View all

Football

Italy

International leagues

International

Winter sports

Tennis

Other sports

Motorsport

Cycling

Watersports

Events

Favorites

Fans are no longer just an accessory to football

Sigi Heinrich uses the professional football system in his SIGINSIDE section. What particularly bothers the cult reporter: how low the status of fans has fallen in recent years.

Suggestions

Comments (0)