A FOOTBALL club director hopes that rules are followed from now on after the failure of the European Super League.

Charlie Dobres, marketing and ownership director at Lewes FC, is pleased that the European Super League will not be going ahead with the clubs from England. However, he was concerned about what the plans would have done to football as we know it.

He said: “They had signed a letter of intent and they had committed to J.P Morgan to make this breakaway and it looked beyond a bluff. We are happy that it is not happening and believe they have underestimated the strength and feeling against what they were doing.

“It’s clearly been driven by the American owners and their blind spot was thinking they could turn a European sporting culture of relegation, promotion and jeopardy into an American sporting culture, where that does not happen in the American franchise system.

“The idea of changing the sporting culture of an entire continent has stuck in everybody’s throat, maybe more than the greed aspect, it is something that wasn’t going to fly.”

There was a wide belief that the clubs involved were trying to increase their financial status. That would have damaged the rest of football immensely. There had been rumours in the past about a similar project but, according to Mr Dobres, it is clear now the top clubs care only about themselves.

He said: “It has confirmed as explicitly as it possibly could that the clubs at the top don’t care. Before it was only a strong suspicion.

"This, however, is the first time that you can see the action and not just the shadow of the action.

The Argus: Lewes FCLewes FC

"It absolutely underlined their intentions, not only was the cat out of the bag but it was holding the middle finger to the rest of football.”

Many people would like to see the clubs involved face sanctions for their actions. Some fans have called for points deductions, banning from competitions, transfer bans and financial sanctions.

But Mr Dobres believes the authorities should simply follow procedure and carry out their own rules.

He added: “All I would say is that if the rules of the Premier League and FA dictate that there should be a sanction, then there should be a sanction. I am not for or against a sanction, I am for rules being followed that were set up with the Premier League as safeguards for football.

“The reason we have come this far is these six clubs have pushed and pushed, and they thought it would go through. But if rules have been broken the sanctions should be followed.

“You can look at every example of a club being punished, and that punishment necessarily has affected every aspect of the club whether it’s the owners, players or fans. All you can ask for is consistency.”