New Chelsea chief Casper Stylsvig argued for big clubs to have more money and power
Chelsea have hired a new chief revenue officer, Casper Stylsvig, who has argued for football’s biggest clubs to be given even more money and influence.
The Dane has joined from AC Milan, where he was credited with helping the Italian giants return to profitability through innovative commercial strategies, including working with Jay Z’s agency Roc Nation.
Accusations of self-interest and greed were behind much of the criticism of the European Super League project, which was defeated in part by fan outcry, with Chelsea fans among the most prominent.
Speaking last year to podcaster Joe Pompliano, Stylsvig said: “It died after 48 hrs but it’s still a project that’s been bubbling along for many years. There is a general belief that the bigger clubs are bringing more to the table, rightly or wrongly.
“I do think there has to be a model where the big clubs buy into what Uefa is trying to achieve. That’s why you have the ECA [European Club Association], which is working very closely with Uefa to have this.
“But if you think about it, if you take the big clubs out of the competition is there really a competition?
“Should the big clubs have a bigger say? Potentially. They bring more to the table. It’s the same as a festival. You have the leading names and then you have all the up and coming names, but people usually come to see the leading names – they are also paid more.
“Here you are paid in terms of how you progress in the competition, which is probably as we stand now a fair way of doing it, but I do think there has to be a collaboration in terms of how it should look in the future.”
Stylsvig was at AC Milan when they were revealed as one of the 12 clubs to have signed up for the European Super League. Before that he held roles at Fulham, Manchester United and Barcelona.
Chelsea were also among the “dirty dozen” rebels, as they were dubbed by Uefa president Alexsander Ceferin, but were the first to indicate they were pulling out amid angry protests from supporters outside Stamford Bridge.
“I’m delighted to be joining Chelsea at a hugely exciting time for the club.” Stylsvig said. “I’m looking forward to working with talented colleagues as part of the world-class team that has been built at Chelsea.”
Chelsea CEO Chris Jurasek said: “Casper is a great addition to our leadership team, bringing extensive commercial and football experience to his role. I’m very pleased to welcome him to Chelsea.”