Thierry Henry was shocked by Arsenal’s plans to enter the Super League. The club legend supports the dissatisfied supporters and says he does not recognize himself in the club with which he was very successful between 1999 and 2007. Earlier, former trainer Arsène Wenger and former striker Ian Wright also expressed their dissatisfaction with the course of events and Arsenal’s share in the failed plans.
Hundreds of Arsenal supporters went to the Emirates Stadium on Friday to protest the role of owner Stan Kroenke in the design of the European top competition. The fans held an image in the air and one of them is said to have broken his leg in the protest. The action was otherwise peaceful. “I am proud of what the fans have achieved,” said Henry The Telegraph. “Not just the supporters of Arsenal, but all supporters. The fact that the Super League is canceled can be seen as a victory for football.”
Henry was surprised when he got wind of the plans of the twelve founding clubs to start a separate competition. “I was really shocked, like most people. I couldn’t believe what was unfolding. I haven’t talked about it before, but what has happened now made me realize that the club belongs to the fans. I’m part of that too. “I did not recognize my club and what happened with the attempt to join a closed league is not justifiable. They run the club as a company, not as a football club.”
UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin hopes that the founding fathers, Juventus, Real Madrid and Barcelona, will be harshly punished for their role in setting up the Super League. He is a lot milder for the six clubs from the Premier League, as they previously decided to leave the project. Henry finds it difficult to explain why the clubs wanted to secede. “Maybe it’s a lack of understanding of the core values of football and maybe the money was too much of a temptation. Whatever it was, they were wrong,” said the former goalscorer.
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