Barcelona legend Gerard Pique wants football matches to be made shorter to target younger audience
BARCELONA legend Gerard Pique has bizarrely agreed with Real Madrid president Florentino Perez’s claim that football matches are too long.
Los Blancos chief Perez made the strange suggestion last year when the European Super League was being proposed.
ReutersPique has made the rather bizarre claim that football matches are too long[/caption]
The 75-year-old said the sport should “shorten the length of matches” to try and engage younger audiences.
And while Pique, 35, has insisted the European Super League is not a viable way of improving football, he has surprisingly agreed with reducing the length of games.
Speaking to Ibai Llanos on Twitch, he said: “The presentation of the Super League was a big f*** up, above all coming from Florentino.
“But I agree with him about needing to captivate younger audiences, even if I don’t agree with the Super League.
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“We have to have shorter, more seductive products. To me, 90 minutes seems a long time.”
Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus are keen to keep ploughing on with the European Super League plan.
And last month, the new chief of the failed ESL caused uproar by predicting that it will relaunch in 2024.
A22 Sports Management, the company that represents the three clubs still keen on a Super League, are planning to revive the competition after appointing Bernd Reichart as their new chief executive.
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He told the Financial Times: “We want to reach out to stakeholders in the European football community and broaden this vision.
“Even fans will have a lot of sympathy for the idea. It is a blank slate. Format will never be an obstacle.”
The original proposal for the 12 clubs would have guaranteed them involvement regardless of their domestic performances – and that “closed shop” approach is something Reichart admits needs changing.
He added: “There is a reassessment. There is a clearly stated move towards an open format and that permanent membership is off the table.
“We want to see whether or not there is broader consensus about the problems facing European football.”
Meanwhile, Pique retired from football earlier this week, finishing his career by getting sent off despite being an unused substitute.
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Clearly unhappy at some of the decisions referee Jesus Gil Manzano had made, Mundo Deportivo claimed he said: “Did you see the corner you gave against us?
“You are the referee that has f***ed us over the most by a distance. It is a f***ing disgrace. “F*** your mother.”
