The poorest football teams are unable to compete with the richest ones

A club's success ought to depend on the merits of its team. But that's currently not the case in the world of football today. Clubs can't make it big simply by proving themselves on the pitch. Rather, the success of a club is now dictated by how much money they have. And most clubs simply don't have the money they need, while the few that do have it in outrageous excess. Among European clubs, ten clubs pay 220 million euros or higher in wages to their players. Then there is a 60 million or greater gap between those clubs and all the rest. Since higher wages correlate to better performance on the pitch, those top ten clubs have an almost insurmountable advantage. And gaps exist within individual countries as well. In countries such as England, Spain, and Portugal, the top two to four teams in each league pay anywhere from twice to almost seven times as much as the rest of their respective teams. ^[1] Clubs with more money draw more and better players who have more of an incentive to play better. Their money pays for equipment, staff, facilities, and all sorts of amenities. Conversely, those clubs on the lower end struggle even to function on a day-to-day basis. ^[2] This wealth gap creates a self-perpetuating cycle that ensures that the rich stay on top and the poor go defunct. Football is no longer a sport, but merely another business. And competition doesn't start when players step on the pitch, but well in advance in the pocketbooks of a few rich owners.