Champions League final the calm before storm as Uefa and Fifa battle rolls on
In regal Odeonsplatz, the finishing touches are being applied to a fan zone that will accommodate Inter's travelling fans under an azure sky. It will surely be full to capacity given about 40,000 Nerazzurri are expected to arrive in time for Saturday's Champions League final, even if under half that number will officially make it into Allianz Arena for the match itself. This is not only an appointment with history for their opponents, Paris Saint-Germain; Inter have blended silk with street-fighting qualities to stand on the verge of their first European title since 2010.
Gianni Infantino is unlikely to be among the melee but the Fifa president's sympathies are well documented. He will be quietly rooting for Inter from the VIP seats and perhaps it will be an opportune moment for some bridge building. There is a constituency of Inter fans in Uefa's higher echelons, after all, and football's biggest governing bodies could certainly do with discovering a few acres of common ground.
Surface temperatures have, at least, cooled since a number of European delegates at the Fifa congress walked out this month in protest at Infantino's prioritising of meetings in the Middle East. A conciliatory public statement from Uefa saw to that, although nobody should assume all is forgiven behind the scenes. There is little love lost between their respective leaderships and the summer ahead is only likely to intensify the power struggle for the future of the elite game.
It means that, from Uefa's perspective, there is every incentive to pull off a bravura spectacle on Saturday night. The revamped Club World Cup, Infantino's deeply controversial pet project, begins in a fortnight and a statement of who runs the biggest show in town would be timely. Inter and PSG could face each other again in that competition's final; they are on opposite sides of the draw and it is hardly an impossible scenario if enough can be wrung from their overstretched players. But a show for the ages in Munich would be a hard act to follow, and demonstrate that the traditional gongs, albeit in their heavily updated form, still hold the greatest weight.
Greeting visitors to the coffee lounge at Hotel Bayerischer Hof, handed over to Uefa and their wide-ranging entourage for the weekend, are mannequins clothed in replica shirts bearing the names of Lautaro Martínez and Marquinhos. Perhaps that inadvertently speaks of an obvious inconvenience in this final's grapple for eyeballs: the lack of a global superstar to reel in casual enthusiasts. That should not spoil the game itself, which will be finely poised between a free-flowing PSG and an Inter side that can deliver knockout blows at a stroke. It is hard to escape the thought, though, that the commercial brains in Nyon would have deemed Lamine Yamal's presence more future-facing.
How much the presence of Linkin Park at the now obligatory pre-match show will enthral younger fans is a different question, albeit not an altogether separate matter. The influential European Club Association (ECA) chair Nasser al-Khelaifi, who also happens to run PSG, has never been shy to say he wants these occasions to rival a Super Bowl in tone and glamour. Given the ECA's ever-growing power, it would not hurt Uefa to deliver one. Fifa will certainly try to do that when the Club World Cup concludes in New Jersey on 13 July.
Khelaifi sits astride football's sparring factions, with sources describing him as modern football's kingmaker. The ECA leadership have fully backed Infantino's tournament, to the extent that a handful of staff are working full time on preparations for the event. But their recent joint commercial venture with Uefa, UC3, promises to supercharge the Champions League's presence and influence across the Atlantic. Which competition will ultimately produce the kind of jamboree Khelaifi envisages?
Uefa is satisfied, at least, that this season's reformatted Champions League has proved successful. Insiders have sung the praises of its 36-team 'league phase' to the point of evangelism, even if its debut edition did not ultimately deliver the level of tension and jeopardy that had been threatened. This weekend is seen an opportune moment to discuss feedback given by participating clubs. Small tweaks may follow, but there will be no fundamental changes to the structure. One alteration that may come closer to fruition in Munich would see the clubs that finished higher in the league phase given the perceived advantage of a home second leg in the knockout stage in an attempt to incentivise performance in that sprawling first round.
Next season a six-strong English contingent will knock the Champions League's remaining credibility as a truly representative European tournament, even if it offers an accurate snapshot of the Premier League's overwhelming strength. Nineteen of the 36 league phase competitors will come from England, Germany, Spain or Italy; a Super League is effectively here by stealth, but few of the gathered stakeholders in Bavaria feel moved to obsess over a lack of diversity.
Instead they will savour a radiant weekend in a city that certainly offers a sufficiently highbrow stage. In Königsplatz, PSG's supporters will gather in their own specially designated area. The location, a stone's throw from Odeonsplatz, may keep security personnel on their toes. Passing through the Bayerischer Hof lobby, Khelaifi laughed off any suggestion nerves may consume him on Saturday.
The final looks too close to call. Maybe Infantino, along with a number of his peers from Uefa, will depart with the glow of a champion, but the powerbrokers' grievances are unlikely to melt entirely in the Bavarian sun.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Sky News
an hour ago
- Sky News
Essex set to be the home of Europe's largest low-carbon horticulture site
Forty hectares of greenhouses, heated by the burning of rubbish, are set to be built in Essex - making it the largest low-carbon horticulture site in Europe. These greenhouses will be the first of their kind and could provide around 6% of the tomatoes consumed in the UK. It should begin operating in 2027, when almost all the county's household rubbish will come to the Rivenhall site, where it will then be burnt in an incinerator. Gareth Jones works for waste company Indaver, which is building the facility. He said: "The boiler produces steam and some of that steam we'll divert to our new heat exchange, and that will produce the hot water that we'll be sending over to our greenhouses. "The rest of the steam goes to the turbine, so it produces electricity from the substation, and some of the electricity will go directly to the greenhouses." Currently, Essex's household waste goes to landfill where it gives off greenhouse gasses, particularly methane. Indaver claims that the CO2 emitted at the Rivenhall site is 20% less than if the rubbish had gone to landfill, and there are additional environmental benefits. According to Defra, almost half of the UK's fresh vegetables are imported. Tomatoes often come from Morocco, Spain and the Netherlands. But there is growing concern about the vast number of plastic polytunnels in the south of Spain. Almeria's 'Sea of Greenhouses' are even visible from space, and there are regular droughts in the area. Trucks then bring the produce all the way to the UK, releasing thousands of tonnes of CO2 en route. Rivenhall Greenhouse project director Ed Moorhouse says the UK's reliance on importing fruit and veg is not sustainable. "Water porosity in north Africa and in southern Spain is a key issue, extremes of temperature and the effects of climate change," he said. "What we're seeking to do is, if it was tomatoes, to reshore 6-8% of tomato imports by growing in Essex." But the National Farmers Union says further projects like Rivenhall could be hampered by the government's new biodiversity net gain strategy, which forces all developers to benefit nature through their builds. Martin Emmett, chair of the NFU's Horticulture and Potatoes Board, says the policy was "originally designed around housing estates, larger factories and commercial developments". Consequently, companies may have to buy extra land to offset biodiversity impacts, which would affect similar investments across the country. A Defra spokesperson said: "We are working closely with the sector to make Biodiversity Net Gain work more effectively, whilst investing £5 billion into farming, the largest ever budget for sustainable food production to bolster our food security."
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Chart-topping rock band sparks major backlash after waving Palestinian flag on stage
Imagine Dragons is facing major backlash after frontman Dan Reynolds triumphantly waved a Palestinian flag on stage during a recent concert in Milan. The American rock band - known for hits like 'Radioactive' and 'Demons' - was performing at the I-Days Festival when Reynolds held the flag aloft and draped it over his shoulders before kissing it before tossing it into the crowd. The moment quickly went viral, sparking immediate outrage and igniting a storm of condemnation on social media. 'Disgusting and shameful,' wrote one user on X, formerly Twitter. 'It looks like the band "Imagine Dragons" supports terrorism,' said ACT for America Chairman Brigitte Gabriel. 'Imagine Dragons ends their concert by waving their solidarity with TERRORISTS. They're calling for " gay rights" and "free Palestine."' another user wrote. 'Essentially, they just called for the deaths of all gay people - and their music career.' Many accused the band of politicizing a music event and showing bias in the ongoing and deeply contentious Israeli-Palestinian conflict. 'Disgusting. Why can't performers just stick to performing?' one person asked. 'Politics and music have no place together,' another commented. 'Musicians should stick to their music. Mixing politics with music is unnecessary,' wrote another user on X. Critics also pointed to the band's past controversies. In 2023, Imagine Dragons faced criticism for performing in Israel and Azerbaijan, in August 2023, before the October 7 Hamas terror attacks. Reynolds later defended the band's decisions, saying he didn't want to punish fans for the actions of governments. 'I don't believe in depriving our fans who want to see us play because of the acts of their leaders and their governments. I think that's a really slippery slope,' Reynolds told Rolling Stone in July 2024. 'I think the second you start to do that, there's corrupt leaders and warmongers all over the world, and where do you draw the line?' Now, critics argue the Milan gesture contradicts that stance. 'He said he doesn't play politics with fans -but that flag is politics,' one commenter posted. Others demanded an apology, with some threatening to boycott future concerts or delete the band's music. 'I deleted their entire library today. Even some collabs with other artists,' one user wrote. 'This will hopefully lead to a serious fan base cut,' commented another. Still, not all the response was negative, pro-Palestinian advocates and many international fans praised the act as a show of solidarity amid the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Imagine Dragons was 'applauded worldwide' for the gesture, with some calling it 'one of the bravest acts by a mainstream artist,' the Daily Times reported. 'You just gained a lifelong fan,' one supporter commented. Another added, 'They stood up for human rights when others stayed silent.' Bassist Ben McKee also used the stage to promote LGBTQ+ causes, playing a guitar painted with the transgender pride flag and a heart in the style of the gay pride flag on its back, video showed. As of now, neither Reynolds nor the band has issued a formal statement on the controversy.
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Disposable vapes are officially BANNED in the UK as government cracks down on cheap nicotine dispensers commonly littered and sold to children
A ban on single-use vapes has today come into force across Britain as the government looks to crack down on waste and the growing number of children hooked on nicotine. Around five million disposable vapes were thrown away each week last year rather than being recycled - sparking major environmental concerns as the batteries can leak waste and cause fires. And a survey commissioned by NHS England last October revealed that around one in ten secondary school pupils were regular users of the devices. The new legislation means vapes must be considered 'reusable' - through being refillable or having a charging port - or they will be classed as illegal. Shops have already begun stocking 'rechargeable' versions of vapes which are retailing for the same price as the disposable offerings. Further moves to raise the age of sale of tobacco products and to regulate the displays, flavours and packaging of reusable vapes are also being taken forward through the Tobacco and Vapes Bill. Nature minister Mary Creagh was asked on Friday whether the new legislation would be enough and said: 'Well let's bring in the ban first. That's what I would say.' 'I'm confident that my colleagues in the Department of Health will not hesitate to use those powers should what we're doing this weekend not achieve the goals. 'But I'm confident that it is already sparking a conversation among young people, getting them to ask the questions, getting them to understand that there's no such place as "away" and that these are really difficult to recycle.' She added that most large vapes on the market do not have replaceable coils meaning they will fall within the scope of the ban. The government is also considering further ways to drive up levels of separately collected electrical waste including vapes as part of reforms to waste electrical and electronic equipment regulations. Under current rules, vape producers already have a legal responsibility to finance their collection for recycling. Vapes contain valuable and critical materials such as lithium and copper that are regularly binned in household waste, and if littered, they can cause fires and other damaging or toxic impacts on the environment and wildlife. Major eco organisations last week called on retailers to make more collection points available for the products. Director general of the UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA) John Dunne also called on shop owners to do more. Mr Dunne said: 'This needs joined-up action from across the waste chain and more effort needs to be done to provide consumers with disposal points at the point of use and not just point of sale.' He added that while the UKVIA works to educate consumers on sustainable vape use and recycling initiatives 'more needs to be done'. 'We would encourage the Government to launch a national consumer education which includes responsible disposal of vapes, why vaping is much less harmful than smoking, and warning of the dangers of buying non-compliant products from the black market or other irregular sellers.' According to research by online nicotine retailer, Haypp, 82 per cent of disposable vape users stockpiled ahead of the ban. Cllr David Fothergill, Chairman of the LGA's Community Wellbeing Board, urged shops to comply with the new laws, dubbing vapes a 'blight [on] our streets.' He added: 'We would also urge caution to anyone stockpiling disposable vapes. Failing to store disposable vapes correctly could cost lives, given the significant fire risk they pose.'
