Tapori
Full Member
As any good union official or lawyer will tell you; it entirely depends on their employment contracts and jurisdiction of that contract.It will be interesting to see if any of the major players/managers band together (behind the backs of their clubs, just as the clubs did to them and fans) and come out against this. It is feasible (not likely, but feasible) that the below outspoken players could form the leadership of a group that speaks out against this. For the players and managers they will be paid astronomical wages whether they are in a Super League or whether they play in the Champions League. I get that the pay for them would increase, but I do think some players still have base level morals. Imagine the power of the following group of players speaking out:
United: Rashford/Bruno/Pogba
City: Pep/KdB/Sterling
Liverpool: Henderson/Van Dijk/Salah/Klopp/Mane
Chelsea: Pulisic
Arsenal: Aubameyang
Tottenham: Kane/Son
Juve: Pirlo/RONALDO
Inter: Conte/Lukaku
AC Milan: Ibrahimovic
Real: Zidane/Modric/Ramos
Barca: Pique/MESSI
Atleti: Simeone/Suarez
If you take that group they represent virtually every corner of the globe Europeans (Kane, Ramos, Pogba etc), Asians (Son), Americans (Pulisic), Middle East (Salah), Africa (Mane/Auba). They hold huge weight, if they spoke out against this the Super League would lose all gravitas very very quickly.
Do you guys think this is possible or do you think the clubs hold too much power over the players? They would have to ensure they were all in together before going public with their views on it because otherwise they would risk having their contracts terminated.
Simply put: If literally all the players refuse to play in the ESL but continue their commitment to play in the officially licensed competitions, I would, as a complete layman, contend they would have a massive collective bargaining case against the ESL clubs.
The ESL would withold wages but this would literally be challenged under Employment Law UK and EU wide.
Have the players signed up as employees or private contractors?
What is the contract between them and their clubs in terms of the expected service the players provide?
Can the ESL clubs withold full salary or terminate contracts for not participating in an unsanctioned league if the players continue to abide by the contract of playing in licensed competitions?
Better yet, if ever there was a time to form a players and managers pan-global workers union it should and would be now.
If there is a will then there is a way. Would be immense.
No-one has mentioned the players; No players = no ESL.