Celtic majority shareholder Dermot Desmond has been in the news recently, after it emerged, as reported by the Times, he pulled out of backing a proposed Atlantic League, which would have seen the Hoops and four other Scottish clubs play teams from Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Ireland.
It is certainly interesting timing for Desmond to make this move. Recent events in Europe show that there is still an appetite for change in how leagues are structured.
European Super League reportedly discussed
Sky Sports reported in October that 20 teams from Europe’s elite leagues were planning to form a European Super League.
However, any talk of breakaway leagues and the like really has to be put on hold until the current Covid-19 pandemic is brought under control. Once things are back to something approaching normality then perhaps talks of Atlantic Leagues and European Super Leagues can get underway.
However, Desmond is doing the right thing in ditching the Atlantic League. The formation of such a league has seemed like a pipe dream for years.
It just seems unrealistic to expect five Scottish teams to team-up in some mega-league with teams from the likes of Denmark, Norway and Sweden. It would cause too much confusion at a time when football really needs to pull together.
Hoops may not be involved in any future discussions
Maybe the plans can start again in 18 months when football returns to normal. When fans are allowed to return to stadiums for example.
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Judging by Desmond’s actions though, Celtic won’t be involved in any such plans. It will be interesting to find out if the other Scottish sides are still interested in the plan.
This season more than any over, Celtic should be focusing on what happens on the pitch. Winning 10 in a row is far more important than any involvement in an Atlantic League.
All Celtic’s focus should be on winning the league, with no distractions. Hopefully that has been realised by Desmond.