BBC presenter Gary Lineker has broken his social media silence on Brexit after Boris Johnson appeared to take credit for stopping the controversial European Super League proposals.
During his Conservative conference speech today, the Prime Minister said his government had “seen off” the plan and would protect grassroots football – suggesting this was a benefit of the UK leaving the EU.
The league was proposed in the spring, with plans for 20 European clubs to compete annually. It was heavily criticised by supporters and politicians, who were concerned about the lack of competition in the contest and disliked the Americanised sporting style. Days after its announcement, the league suspended operations.
At the time, Johnson was vocal against the European Super League idea and branded it a “cartel”. However, he had met with a chief executive of one of the English teams leading the breakaway days before it was announced – with the Sunday Times reporting that Manchester United boss Ed Woodward may have left the talks thinking Johnson was in favour of it.
The Prime Minister was urged to set out his thoughts, with Labour saying the Tory leader had “questions to answer”.
Speaking this afternoon, Johnson said: “We are going to use our Brexit freedoms to do things differently … we are doing the Borders Bill … we have seen off the European Super League and protected grassroots fan-based football.”
He did not explain how Brexit led to the end of the European Super League.
Campaign group Best for Britain, who promote internationalism and have been very critical of Johnson’s premiership as well as Brexit, pointed out that there had been opposition to the league in Italy, France and Spain as well as the UK.
Match of the Day presenter Lineker chipped in: “I’ve not tweeted about Brexit for 2 years, but this is so disingenuous it needs calling out,” he wrote in response to Johnson.
“Football fans and lovers of the game in this country saw off the European Super League, not politicians nor Brexit.”
In his conference speech, Johnson avoided discussing the problems caused by Brexit and instead promoted what he believes will be the opportunities outside of the EU.
However the Confederation of British Industry director-general Tony Danker said Johnson needed to set out more details.
"The PM has only stated his ambition on wages. This needs to be backed up by action on skills, on investment and on productivity," he explained.
“Ambition on wages without action on investment and productivity is ultimately just a pathway for higher prices.”
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