(ANSA) - KARPACZ, 11 SET - "We live in a moment in the history characterized by a new international disorder, a process of geopolitical change in the balance of power, and that is also happening in parallel way to the football field, with the entry into the pitch of countries that want to bring the soft power of football in its own sphere of influence, such as the United States and Saudi Arabia, and where continental Europe and EU countries risk losing their status as football powers and becoming irrelevant in the world's most followed sport." This was underlined by Narcís Pallarès -Domènech, Alessio Postiglione and Valerio Mancini, authors of the book "Calcio, politica e potere (Edizioni Mondo Nuovo, Pescara 2023, 22 euros, 314 pages), during the presentation of the book at the 32nd Karpacz Economic Forum in Poland.
    This year's conference had as its theme "New Values for the Old Continent - Europe on the Threshold of Change" and among the numerous meetings between political, economic and social leaders, with guests coming from 60 countries in Europe, Asia and America, it also talked about football.
    The authors reiterated that "it is essential that in this phase of change Europe, and especially the EU, has a strategy for football". In addition to talking about the emerging role of Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf countries in global football, the topic of the European Super League controversy was also addressed. According to the authors, "The European SuperLeague was a project that was wrong in form but not in substance" and they reiterated that "the football teams of continental Europe are sinking towards absolute irrelevance in the future at the international level, due to a multiplicity of elements, including which highlights the power of the English Premier League and the very strong economic capacity of Saudi Arabia to strengthen its championship.
    "Despite this trend progressing ever faster - conclude the authors - one of the ways, perhaps the only one, to save European football and above all that of the EU member countries, is the creation of a Pan-European League, the only plausible solution for to armor a strategic soft power asset for Europe".
    (ANSA).