Chelsea leaders did the right thing, but be honest about what they did

Chelsea was the first club to break from the Super League. A combination of in person fan protests plus days of online uproar led to Roman Abramovich and his board doing the right thing. Chelsea was the first domino to fall in the series that would leave the Super League doomed.

Chelsea fans must be honest about Abramovich and the boards involvement however. They did the right thing, but they were co conspirators all the same. In the moment they made the right decision, it cannot be lost that it was also their own decisions that helped get the sport into this mess the past few days.

By all accounts, Chelsea (and Manchester City) were late and reluctant signers of the Super League. That doesn’t matter. Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain both rejected the deal. Chelsea joined it for fear of being left behind. It was unilateral decision made without the fans’, players’, or staff’s knowledge. Chelsea didn’t have to join the deal. Of the clubs involved, they are arguably the most financially stable. Even still, they joined this ploy to save the poorly run super clubs of the world looking over their shoulders at massive debt and new rising powers.

This isn’t a call for Abramovich to leave Chelsea. While it may be disingenuous to say Chelsea would have been nothing without him, it is accurate to say he has given a great deal to the club which can only be respected. Reluctant or late as he was, he was still one of the dirty dozen that tried to kill the very soul of the sport.

But he did the right thing in the end. He listened to the fans, the heart of the club. That can’t be lost either. Abramovich can be forgiven, but what he has done cannot be forgotten.

And, what of the board? Well, while Abramovich may be the be all end all at Chelsea, he hasn’t directly run the club for some time. He is just the final yay or nah. So, while he is culpable in the Super League, it is also likely that he wasn’t anymore than the final say so on it. The fall of the Super League has been a bit of a Red Wedding for executives across the 12. At Chelsea, it should be no different. Whoever was pushing for the Super League on the board must go. Their time at Chelsea should be done.

After that, the fight can’t end. The Super League was a terrible reaction to the corruption of FIFA and UEFA. That corruption still remains. The next step in this battle for the game is to fight to fix those organizations.

There may also be one more step to take in between, however. Abramovich is a custodian of the club. That needs to be made formal. Calls of 50+1 or something similar to put the ownership of the club into the hands of the fans cannot stop either. Abramovich has done a great deal for the club and can continue to do a great deal for the club. But he can no longer have the ability to make unilateral decisions about that club. No owner can be allowed that anymore.

The right outcome came about in the end and forgiveness can occur. But never forget what Abramovich and 11 others tried to do. Fix UEFA, fix FIFA, and fix how clubs are run now before we are discussing the next Super League breakaway in a few years’ time.