Gordon Brown last night rejected a request from Michel Platini for a change in European law and for sporting bodies to be granted unique powers to control perceived financial excesses in the game. The Uefa president had written to Brown and every other European prime minister asking them to amend the forthcoming European treaty to give sports federations the power to challenge the "malign" influence of money in football. The letter included a thinly veiled attack on the Premier League and its new generation of super-rich owners, warning that football was entering an era in which "financial profit alone will be the measure of sporting success".
His argument has been rejected wholesale by Downing Street, which last night issued a statement maintaining that the issues raised by Platini were best dealt with by the football authorities. The government also rejects the argument that money is a malign influence in the game, a position that mirrors that of the Premier League, which has worked hard to develop positive relations with the Brown administration. Brown has personally endorsed several Premier League-backed initiatives including the Kickz project and the work of the Football Foundation.
Privately the Premier League rejects Platini's argument as hypocrisy. It argues that Uefa is at least partly responsible for the growing wealth gap in football because of the Champions League, a competition that relies on the involvement of major clubs.