A European Super League for soccer?

Not just yet, it seems - as three top Premiership clubs stay tight-lipped over claims that they were planning to rebel and join a mid-week 16-team Euro championship that could bring them a fortune in sponsorships, TV cash and prize money.

But even as the idea disappears behind a wall of silence, another alarming one appears - of even more top English clubs playing in a two-division European league; one which would kill off the Premiership at a stroke.

If this is a glimpse of football's future - one inspired by the corporate greed that already rules big-time football - it is one that will alarm many fans.

For it promises not just to wreck the traditional set-up of soccer in this country, it could financially kill off the game completely at lower levels, make the game a remote TV-based sport for millions of supporters and hit them hard in the pocket as they pay more to watch.

But fans should remember they do have some power - the off-switch on their set when they see pay TV threatening to take over the game.

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