LIVERPOOL chairman Tom Werner was at a secret meeting to discuss MORE games just days before Jurgen Klopp’s FA Cup strop.
Reds boss Klopp boycotted last week’s fourth-round replay win over Shrewsbury and fielded a youth team after complaining at the scheduling of the game.
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp won’t be too happy with the idea of yet MORE game for his side to playCredit: Reuters
But it has emerged that prior to that controversy, Anfield’s senior executive was engaged in talks about adding an extra competition to the club’s programme.
Werner was among the senior European club executives who attended the meeting in Paris last month.
Arsenal and Manchester United were also there, along with representatives of Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain, Juventus, Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid.
The gathering was summoned by US big-shot Stephen Ross, owner of the Miami Dolphins and boss of Relevent Sports, organiser of the International Champions Cup which has run since 2013.
NEW PRE-SEASON TOURNAMENT
Ross told the clubs he was willing to finance an improved and more lucrative version of the pre- season tournament — which will mean sides packing in even more fixtures.
The American sports mogal has an agreement with Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin for the tournament to carry the “stamp” of an official Uefa-backed event.
All the clubs present were offered the opportunity to be stakeholders and own equity shares in the competition.
But Ross made it clear the new-look event will only take place if clubs agree to field full-strength teams and not use it to blood kids.
Chelsea and Tottenham were not present at the meeting, although both clubs are understood to have been aware it was taking place and received information beforehand and a full debriefing afterwards.
CHARGES OF HYPOCRISY?
It is not clear if Manchester City were invited.
Liverpool and Werner have publicly backed Klopp’s stance on the FA Cup.
But the chairman’s willingness to engage in discussions about an event which will add to the club’s fixture list and demands on the players will leave the Anfield outfit open to charges of hypocrisy.
Quizzed on the subject of the talks last week after he left the latest stakeholder meeting of the Prem’s 20 clubs in London, Werner said: “I don’t want to talk about one particular meeting.
“There are ongoing discussions obviously, some of which I’m not aware of.
“There are discussions about changing the format of the Champions League and the Fifa Club World Cup.”
Werner, who said he “didn’t want to comment” on the suggestion of a breakaway superleague, insisted that “protecting the health of players” remained paramount.
But he added: “There are challenges that come up every day in terms of protecting the integrity of the league, the value of the league. We are in a very competitive world.
“There are conversations going on with Fifa and Uefa.”
Liverpool chairman Tom Werner was part of a group who discussed a new pre-season tournamentCredit: EPA
Jurgen Klopp stands by his decision to only field his U23 team for FA Cup reply against Shrewsbury
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
