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‘Genuinely heartbroken’: James Corden’s condemnation of ‘greedy’ Super League bosses goes viral

A dozen football clubs - including Liverpool, Manchester United and Arsenal - have committed to join a breakaway European competition that is set to rival the Champions League

Ben Burrows
Wednesday 21 April 2021 08:59 BST
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James Corden criticises 'disgusting' Super League plans

James Corden has joined the condemnation of the European Super League plans describing them as the “worst kind of greed”.

A dozen European clubs - including Liverpool, Manchester United and Arsenal - have committed to join a breakaway competition that is set to rival the Champions League.

The likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus are also on board with the tournament set to go ahead “as soon as is practicable”.

The proposal has come in for heavy criticism with fans groups, football figures as well as politicians all joining together to condemn the venture.

And Corden, a West Ham fan, has joined them using his monologue on The Late Late Show to articulate just how upset he is at the developments of the last few days.

“I’m heartbroken by it, genuinely heartbroken by it,” he said. “I’m heartbroken because the owners of these teams have displayed the worst kind of greed I’ve ever seen in sport.”

The plans could see the Premier League’s ‘big six’ and their European equivalents leave their domestic competitions altogether, a move which would leave a sizeable financial void at the top of the football pyramid.

“It’s hard to express how much these communities rely on football, not just financially, which is considerable, but football is like a focal point of a town’s hopes and dreams, that’s what it is, you know?

“And these dreams, they’ve just been shattered not just in Britain, all across Europe. And the reason these dreams have been shattered and discarded is so that a group of billionaires can buy themselves a bigger boat, or a second boat.

“Football is a working class game where anyone can beat anyone on their day, and it’s that that makes it incredible, it’s that that’s made it the global force it is today.”

A visibly emotional Corden is vehemently against the move and he believes he knows who is to blame.

He added: “And if this happens, and unfortunately I really do think it will, I don’t want to be over dramatic but I do think it’s the end of the sport that we love. It truly is. I think it’s going to happen and I don’t think there’s anything we can do about it.

“Don’t ever forget that it was them, those owners. They took something so pure and so beautiful and they beat the love and the joy out of it and they did it for money. They just did it for money. And it’s disgusting.”

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