Claudio Ranieri has accused the country’s big clubs of running scared after heaping scorn on the prospect of a European Super League that protects the interests of England’s established elite.
The Leicester City manager warned the Barclays Premier League’s so-called “big five” that they only had themselves to blame if they missed out on Champions League qualification.
And Ranieri claimed that any attempts by Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool to restructure the Champions League to ensure that they do not miss out were a sign of fear and weakness that undermined the essence of competitive sport.
Chelsea, Liverpool and at least one of the Manchester clubs look likely to miss out on the top four in a season that has embarrassed the established order, with Leicester, the league’s shock leaders, three points clear at the top. Tottenham Hotspur are second and West Ham United are also in contention for Champions League qualification, a point adrift of fourth.
Leicester were the subject of disparaging remarks from Charlie Stillitano, the American sports executive who held talks in London this week with United, City, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool about a potential revamp of the Champions League, comments that drew a strong response from Ranieri.
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“All the fans want sport to be very clear, for there to be respect for everybody,” Ranieri said. “I understand the bigger teams want to be sure to get money and don’t want to lose one year without Champions League football.
“But this is sport. You can imagine there is a Super League and then there are other teams who won the league [who are not in it]. It’s not so good. It’s good that there is big competition. You have to deserve [to be in] the Champions League.
“For one year [that] you don’t achieve this, you want to make something different? I think it’s not right. You are afraid. You are not strong. You are afraid to lose money. It’s not good for the sport because what happens after? There are four or five teams from each country and the rest — what do they do?”
Stillitano, the chairman of Relevent Sports, the company owned by Stephen Ross, the American billionaire who set up the International Champions Cup — a high-profile global pre-season tournament for Europe’s leading clubs — had appeared to question Leicester’s importance.
Talking up the prospect of a “closed system” that ensures that the biggest teams feature in a leading European competition every season, regardless of their domestic performance, Stillitano had said: “What would Manchester United argue, did we create soccer or did Leicester?
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“Let’s call it the money pot created by soccer and the fandom around the world. Who has had more of an integral role, Manchester United or Leicester? [Leicester] is a wonderful story, but you could see it from United’s point of view.”
Stillitano’s remarks had earlier drawn a furious rebuke from Jon Holmes, the former Leicester chairman and long-time agent of Gary Lineker. In an open letter to Stillitano, Holmes wrote that supporting a club such as Leicester “rather than a brand like Man U” was a “statement of where you come from and what you are, not allegiance to a transferrable action for a particular kind of toothpaste.”
Lineker endorsed Holmes’s view on Twitter, with the Match of the Day presenter and former England captain describing the letter as an “excellent piece”.
Ranieri said that the top clubs should look first at the way they do things rather than ways to safeguard their interests after a poor season. “Maybe next time they [the big clubs] could call our sporting director?” Ranieri said. “They try to do something but people must think what the fans want, not only about money because the culture and the fans are more important than other things. This is sport. I understand they want to do something but if something strange happens, it’s not [right] to blame the little teams. They have to blame themselves. Maybe they’ve a good idea. They should ask, ‘Why do a little team like Leicester do better than us?’ ”