The New President of G-14 (aka Aulas vs. Platini)

By: Inara | May 15th, 2007

G14 Word on the street is that Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas will be elected president of the G-14 tomorrow.

Consisting of the 18 most powerful and successful clubs in Europe, the G-14 have been searching for a new leader ever since former president David Dein resigned from Arsenal. Their goal is to protect their interests from FIFA and UEFA (including collecting compensation from the national associations for the use of their players, which would spell the end of international tournaments). They have also threatened to leave UEFA on occasion.

The French may have taken over the footballing world (at least administratively), with Michel Platini in charge of UEFA and now Aulas strong arming the G-14, but what we actually have is about to become a battle of epic proportions.

Platini is an advocate of ending the reign of large clubs, stopping “foot-business,” and reforming the Champions League to include more nations from Eastern Europe. In fact, he strongly disapproved of Lyon recently entering the stock market, saying that profits had no place in football.

On the other hand, super-ambitious Aulas epitomizes the merging of sports and finances, and under his vision, the Euro leagues would start to resemble the NBA. Let me put it this way: if Aulas were an American, he’d be working for Big Tobacco.

It’s certainly no secret that these two men don’t see eye to eye, despite having a French connection. Platini was rather blunt about it, saying that Aulas wasn’t a nice person while Aulas publicly admitted that he didn’t support Platini’s policies. Ouch.

He’s good for clubs but bad for football.

Aulas as president seems strange at first, especially when you consider that Lyon is the only club in the G-14 that haven’t yet won a major European trophy. One of the newest members, they joined in 2002, two years after the group was founded. Lyon also holds the lowest number of votes (just one, in fact).

However, his appointment gives us a strong indication of where the G-14 wants to go. Where Dein’s presidency meant diplomacy and consensus, the reign of Jean-Michel Aulas will be completely different.

aulas1 People all over the footballing world hate Aulas because he stands his ground. He’s a man not afraid to take a stand against the bigger clubs, and he’s one of the main proponents of modernizing French football. Aulas propelled Lyon from second division ignominy to the greatest force in French football, patiently waiting twenty years to achieve his dreams. And not only is he Lyon’s president and owner, but he’s also vice-president of the LFP and president of his own tech company, CEGID.

And Aulas loves to make money. In this age of football clubs being funded by billionaires, Aulas has instead made Lyon self-sustaining, not needing a rich backer to find success. He is attempting to make Lyon into one of the best teams in the world, while making tons of money along the way.

It’s for these same qualities that rich clubs love him.

Aulas will bring a more aggressive and ambitious vision to the G-14, certainly something that the clubs want. He’ll encourage the sleeping members of G-14 – Bayer Leverkusen, PSG, and Ajax – to wake up and join their fellow members on equal footing. He may also try to widen the G-14’s sphere of influence by increasing membership to include previously denied clubs such as Chelsea.

But while Aulas will be good for the clubs, his appointment will undoubtedly upset football purists, who are tired of seeing the financial aspect taking over the game.

I adore Aulas, but I have to admit that his appointment has left me with a sense of foreboding regarding the nature of “the beautiful game.” On one hand, I understand that clubs need money to progress, but on the other hand, when nothing is sacred and where everything can be bought and sold for a price, the game loses its integrity.

Bad? Good? You decide.