The ICC: a testing ground for a European league
The International Champions Cup is already with us, the strange invented tournament that proves difficult to follow as they play across various continents, as it brings together the best of the best. Atlético flew out to Singapore, Barça to the USA (amid the controversy that their men were treated better en route than their women) where Madrid will join them soon, and Sevilla, who had to amend their involvement due to Europa League commitments. Instead they'll have two friendlies against Benfica and Arsenal. In any case, the competition is underway, a lavish advert of Europe's greatest teams.
Uefa threatened by ICC
This ICC has been almost more of a contest between youth teams than a real showdown of the big clubs, due to it taking place before many of the main stars have returned from their summer break. This is even more the case this year, one in which there has been a World Cup. We only have to look at the number of players missing from the Atleti and Barça squads that have travelled. But the fact that even in the year of the World Cup this faltering invention that was born in 2012 (under the name 'World Football Challenge'), gives off a sense of solidity. The truth is, this event brings together the most powerful clubs in European football, a forum for discussion and planning. And it is this that Uefa sees, and fears.
English loyalty a barrier to Euro-league
All the Champions League clubs are in attendance, a competition in which every season they share their lives along with their domestic leagues. Many of them rather fancy letting go of their ties to their national championships to venture into a new European league model, separate from Uefa. Several of them have considered it, and the ideal place to evaluate the idea is within the ICC, where it doesn't seem so wrong. The natural loyalty to traditions and to the Premier League of the English is, for the moment, the main obstacle to this project. But every summer, during these trips to compete in games that carry little weight, the conversations continue.