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Who are G-14 and what do they want? More money, as if you didn't know. John Sugden investigates the gathering threat to UEFA's control of European club football

Manchester United, Arsenal and Leeds are all through to the second group phase of the Champions League but, while that may induce a sense of well- being in England, we should not be blinded by the glitz and glamour to the reality that European club football is mired deep in crisis. Already reeling from the un­folding consequences of Bosman and the latest European Union attack on the transfer sys­tem, UEFA are faced with a new double chal­lenge to their monopoly over the European game. As usual, the essence of the latest crisis boils down to money, or, to be more precise, who generates the cash and who gets their hands on the lion's share of it.

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Ireland may not be Britain, but the downfall of of Jack Charlton's team against Holland in his last match in charge spoke volumes for the limitations of a certain British style, says Cris Freddi

Both sides had known for some time that the play-off was their only real chance of reaching the finals of Euro 96, but recent results left them with very different expectations. While Holland were winning their last three qualifiers without conceding a goal, the Republic had won only one of their last five, drawing in Liechtenstein and losing 3-1 home and away to Austria and 3-0 to group winners Portugal. Austria’s 5-3 defeat in Belfast gave them the play-off chance, but Big Jack’s reign seemed to be coming to an untidy end.

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Like England, Holland have a tradition of using club managers to run the national team. Unlike England, it doesn't change the way the play, says Simon Kuper

Holland have a dastardly way of choosing a man­ager. It works like this: a few old men at the Dutch FA settle upon some appropriate chap, usually a good club coach, always overlooking the best candidate (Johan Cruyff) on the grounds that he is difficult.

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Clubs want more power over UEFA

At a time when the Olympics, the Champions League and World Cup qual­ifying matches are all taking place in quick succession, the conflicting demands of clubs and national associations are making headlines once again.

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The worsening football violence in eastern Europe is out of sight and out of mind for the west, says Simon Evans. But not for long

While possible violence at Euro 2000 occupies the minds and column inches of the west European media, the continent’s other half, as usual, is dealing with much more real and pressing problems. The second weekend of April saw serious crowd violence in St Petersburg, Budapest, Lodz and Bucharest. These were not western-style scuffles or skirmishes. Hooliganism in eastern Europe is proper stuff: rubber batons and tear gas, head-splitting and hospitalising. The most serious clashes were in St Petersburg, where one fan died during the latest in a series of full-scale riots that have greeted the start of the Russian season.

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