The FA are to blame

the where interesting comment from redandwhite kop here ted

Article 1.0.3 makes the case very clearly: "If a team wins the Champions League but does not qualify for the following year's competition as is the case with Liverpool, its national football buttociation can petition UEFA to admit it as defending champion in place of the team that finished fourth." In this case, that would mean Liverpool replacing Everton. One would think this would be pretty basic to any FA official who can read and understand the English language. Not so. Brian Barwick, chairman of the FA, decided last April that, no matter what happened, Everton would be going to the Champions League if it finished fourth.

Of course, at the time, he didn't expect Liverpool would go all the way (few people did). But now that Liverpool is champion of Europe, he is left with egg all over his face. Or rather, he would be left with egg all over his face if he hadn't decided simply to blame UEFA and try to strong-arm the game's governing body in Europe into allowing England to have five teams, thereby rewriting the rules to shoe-horn Liverpool into the competition.

Barwick has said it's "UEFA's problem," not his, because "Champions League is UEFA's competition."

This is not just reminiscent of Pontius Pilate absolving himself of all responsibility, it's also factually incorrect. UEFA is made up of 51 members and the FA is one of them, so Champions League is very much the FA's competition.

Furthermore, he knew -- or should have known -- the rules all along. All he had to do to avoid this mess is announce that if Liverpool won the Champions League, the fourth-place team would miss out next season, as was the FA's prerogative all along.

There is a precedent. In 2000, Real Madrid won the Champions League but finished fifth in La Liga. Real Zaragoza, the fourth-place team, was entered into the second-tier UEFA Cup tournament instead. It was the right thing to do and it's the precedent the FA should have followed.

Everton fans may be aggrieved -- after all, didn't Everton "earn" the right to be in the Champions League by finishing fourth? In many ways, yes. But then again, the only reason England gets four teams in the Champions League is that, in years past, the likes of Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Leeds and Liverpool did well in European competition. This raised England's UEFA coefficient and ensured England four spots in the Champions League. If Everton, as a fourth-place finisher, can claim a place in Europe, it should thank those other five clubs.

But back to Liverpool. The FA has made its appeal to FIFA's executive committee. The 14 men who will make the decision all come from different buttociations and, typically, their decision will be based on what happens behind the scenes. This where all the politics comes in. Like buttigning the Olympic Games, it's all about who can get the best deal

Billy