Jeff Zimbalist: “Football is at a crossroads where there is an identity crisis”

The April 18, 2021 A real earthquake occurred in European football when twelve of the most powerful clubs announced the establishment of super leaguean exclusive project outside of UEFA, designed only for the best and that means before and after. However, the fire was quickly extinguished and only three clubs remain in the project to this day: Real Madrid, FC Barcelona Y Juventus.

The event and its impact are interesting Jeff Zimbalist (‘The Two Escobars‘, ‘Pele / Loving Pablo‘), owner of the production company All Rise Films and winner of three Emmy Awards, among other accolades he has accumulated in his career. Then the film’s director decided to create a new production with the Emmy winner as well Connor Schell. An ambitious project that was revealed on January 13 on Apple TV+ in the form of a documentary.

‘The Super League: war for football‘ consists of four episodes in which the events that took place between April 17 and 20, 2021 are analyzed, in addition to the background and hangover of the scandal. And best of all, it’s narrated by its great protagonists, giving a more personal view of what happened. Alex Ceferin, Andrea Agnelli, javier thebes, Joan Laporta either Florentine perez are just some of the personalities that appear in the series. And on the occasion of the premiere, Mundo Deportivo had the opportunity to talk to Zimbalist.

Why the Super League?

When the story broke in April 2021, it was shocking. This is an attempted coup in the highest office of power in the world’s largest sports industry. Obviously, succeed or fail, he will have an impact that goes beyond the sport.

My interest in football stories has always been there the intersection of sport and society, which sees football as a microcosm, a reflection of the changing values ​​of our global society at a given moment in history. So I watch it play out. And I have a lot of questions about what this means, not only for the sport, but also for culture. I wondered what was going through the minds of people behind closed doors on both sides of this debate.

That’s where it all started.

For a few weeks, I was working with my co-executive producer, Conner, and the producer, Libby. [Geist], and I was on Zoom calls with those guys. Our proposal to them is, it can be said, to do journalism balance: We can be as persuasive as possible on each side and allow viewers to see under the hood how the machinery works. This is a war for football fought on different grounds, in the court of legal opinion and in the court of public opinion.

Docuseries offer a more personal view of what happened.

Being able to connect with fans is important to these men, who often make their decisions behind closed doors, in trials with lawyers and contracts. Open vulnerability and express yourself in a human way and dimensional will allow hundreds of millions of soccer fans they will see themselves reflected. I saw this as a really exciting opportunity to bridge that gap between the power players and the fans.

ABOUT DOCUSERIES PROTAGONISTS

“Many of these people never speak publicly or about their private lives, this is the biggest challenge of the project”

Is it easy to convince all these people to talk?

Not really. that is the biggest challenge of the projectbecause many of these people hardly speak in public and some of them have never spoken in public about their private life. They never open up about their emotional background, their motivations, or their childhood. And it’s important to us not only that they sit in the chair and do an interview making their case about how they think some of the problems in football can be solved.

The important thing is that they talked why they personally care and about what happened to some of his relationships as a result of the whole Super League plot. Because we have seen changes of allegiance, new alliances, betrayals. The stakes are high, not just in their careers, but in their lives.

And how did they get in?

We told them that the more willing they are to share, the more people can be identified with them and see that they are not so different from them. And narration, ‘storytelling’, is important. In this case, it is a tool that appeals to the masses.

To gain the trust of these men, who were brave and opened up to us even though they knew it was dangerous in today’s media landscape, we simply point to our past work and we assured them that we would not do sensationalist journalism, which will be something balanced and deeply informed. Our goal with docuseries is not to have clear villains and heroes, not to have easy answers, but to try to make the whole complexity of the story accessible.

Now that you know the story inside out, what surprised you the most of all?

What surprised me the most was that there were different views of these men the role of morality in the business world. Is there a separate code of conduct when you do business against your friends? Or your family? Or should we apply the same moral principles that we apply to our friends and family in dealing with our business partners? And where do you draw that line? I found the debate between the various actors fascinating and very relatable. I asked myself the same question and I think there are good arguments from both positions.

And who surprised you the most?

I have so much to say Alex Ceferin What Andrea Agnelli. It was really fascinating to be invited into their lives, especially considering how close they were Alex is the godfather of Andrea’s son. And the way Alex tells the story of how Andrea betrayed her, compared to the way Andrea tells the story of how Alex first betrayed her. They are both open and vulnerable and honest. I thought it was a unique opportunity, men with so much power and influence and willing to talk about their relationships in a humane way.

I thought you tried to talk to Gianni Infantino. However, despite being one of the main characters in the latter part of the docuseries, he did not speak in this one.

Yes, we are in touch Gianni Infantino and FIFA, and we would love to have his voice on the series. But you didn’t respond to our interview request. What we did was to base our report on leaked documents, draft proposals and agreements, and the first-hand testimony of insiders who were in contact with prominent players at the time. Certainly, Infantino plays a role in the story and becomes a key figure in the advancement of this plot.

Florentino Pérez does not usually speak to the media and is seen attracting attention. What is your impression of him?

He is from royalties in Spain. And when you’re asking royalty for production time, you have to earn their trust and work on their schedule. I am very grateful that Florentino, and his colleagues, they will invite us to record not only interviews with them, but follow them and have access to their offices and business practices. That, as you say, is very strange. And a really important piece in the series.

We said from day one: ‘We have to have Florentino Pérez representing himself, it must be in his words.’ We’ve all seen the tweets and the press conference articles, but we need him to do something more than that and we’re willing to wait as long as it takes to get him on camera. And finally, once we did that, we felt like we had voices to tell the story.

Now that you’ve worked on the docuseries and it’s seen the light… what’s your conclusion about the Super League? For or against?

I think my job is to try to make as persuasive an argument as I can in both cases. But what I will say is like that the football industry is at a crossroads where there is a bit of an identity crisis. On the one hand, we all know that it was no longer a people’s game, in the late 19th century working class, where the clubs were owned by the fans. But we still cling to that mythology, that history.

At the same time, everyone recognizes that currently it is an entertainment business, and the same thing is not always compatible. They are two different identities. And I think the tug of war between social democracy and capitalism will continue and be central to all future game evolutions.

Is Super League possible in the future?

I don’t know if that project has enough momentum in April 2021 now, but nothing is impossible in the football industry. Honestly, I’m always surprised. There is a decision by the Court of Justice of the European Union in a few months, where they will review the Super Leagues. The accusation that UEFA is a monopoly abusing its dominant market position and how that decision goes I can open it all again.