The idea of a Premier League All-Star Game was not even mooted at a meeting of top clubs in London on Wednesday.
Chelsea chairman Todd Boehly floated the idea of a North vs South game at a conference in New York last week, and said he had already discussed it with bosses of other clubs in Premier League.
However, the PA news agency understands there was no mention of an all-star game when the clubs gathered for a shareholders’ meeting.
All-Star matches are common in American professional sports, but the idea has been criticized by a number of observers since Boehly suggested it, including Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp and Sky Sports pundits Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville.
PA understands that there was also no specific discussion of what changes top clubs would like to see in the domestic cup competitions at Wednesday’s meeting.
It is understood Premier League clubs were unanimously in favor of scrapping FA Cup third and fourth round replays from 2024 ahead of the meeting, with new European competitions starting then which will add new fixtures to a already crowded calendar.
Reruns of the third and fourth rounds have not taken place in either of the past two seasons due to Covid-related fixture congestion, and PA understands scrapping them for a third straight season is an option that could be considered. if there is a backlog of matches. , with some teams having had two matches postponed earlier this month following the Queen’s death.
Premier League clubs are less aligned on their vision for the future of the League Cup, with some – including all of the Big Six – said to favor allowing teams involved in Europe to field fewer teams 21 or drop out altogether.
Changes to domestic cups are just part of a package Premier League clubs are considering, known as the ‘New Deal For Football’, which at its heart would change the way money is distributed from the elite down the pyramid.
No conclusion was reached on the ‘New Deal’ at Wednesday’s meeting, but club sources told the AP there was a sense the urgency to agree a package had receded due to the change of government.
Nigel Huddleston, who quit as sports minister earlier this week, had warned that a proposed new independent regulator for football would be given backing powers to impose regulation on the Premier League and EFL if they couldn’t agree on that themselves.
But the timing of a regulator’s introduction – and even whether a regulator will be put in place – is now uncertain after Huddleston’s departure, with Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries and Prime Minister Boris Johnson leaving their posts.
Clubs have been given an update on VAR procedures and review processes following a series of recent controversies, while clubs have also agreed minimum one-year bans for fans invading the pitch and those who carry or trigger pyrotechnics.
The decision comes a day before the Home Office released details of football-related arrests and reported incidents for the 2021-22 season, which are expected to be significantly up from the last full pre-pandemic season. .
