What if the Balkan nations created a Football Super League?

International Features

07.02.2020

Belgium and the Netherlands have announced that they are researching the idea of merging their two nationals championship into one Super league. In this article we will theorize what that same idea would look like if applied to the nations in the Balkan peninsula. Which countries will be participating? Which teams and what will the new tournament look like? We realize that the situation on the Balkans might not be the most friendly but nonetheless it is an interesting thought experiment.

The Name of the New League

The name The Balkan League will probably send chills down the spine of certain historians who have studied the Balkan Wars from the early 20th century, so in order to avoid this and of course to make the new championship sound grandiose let’s call it The Balkan Super League (BSL).

Competing Nations

According to Wikipedia Italy and Slovenia have small land area situated on the Balkans but for the purpose of this thought experiment they will be excluded from participation. The nations that we have selected are as follows: Albania (1 team), Bulgaria (2 teams), Turkey (3 teams), Romania (3 teams), Greece (3 teams), Croatia (2 teams), Serbia (2 teams), Bosnia and Herzegovina (1 team), North Macedonia (1 team), Montenegro (1 team) and Kosovo (1 team).

Here is what the BSL team roster could look like for the 2020/2021 season. The selected teams are based on titles, name recognition, current standings and so on.

AEK‌ (Greece)
PAOK (Greece)
Olympiacos (Greece)
Fenerbahce (Turkey)
Galatasaray (Turkey)
Besiktas (Turkey)
Steaua București (Romania)
CFR Cluj (Romania)
Dinamo București (Romania)
Ludogorets Razgrad (Bulgaria)
Levski Sofia (Bulgaria)
Red Star Belgrad (Serbia)
Partizan Belgrad (Serbia)
Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia)
Hajduk Split (Croatia)
FK Saraevo (Bosnia)
KF Shkëndija (North‌ Macedonia)
FK Sutjeska Nikšić (Montenegro)
FK Partisani (Albania)
KF Feronikeli (Kosovo)

Competition Rules

Looking at the map of the Balkans its obvious that its nations take up a huge area of land (over 500 000 sq. km.) which might make it necessary for the competition to be split into two leagues - Eastern Conference and Western Conference which will mean shorter distances for traveling players and fans. The top 4 teams from each Conference will then meеt in a knockout phase with home and away legs and one grand final to determine the champion.

EBSL: Turkey, Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia;

WBSL: Greece, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, Kosovo;

In that case here is an example of quarter-final of the playoff phase of the tournament:

PAOK - Galtasaray
Ludogorets Razgrad - Dinamo Zagreb
Steaua București - AEK
Fenerbahce - Hajduk Split

Of course, the BSL does not have to be split into two. The area of the peninsula is big but it is just as big as Spain and the La Liga, for example, where teams are not divided into east and west subdivisions. In that case every team will play a home and an away game against every other competitor and the champion will be decided on point difference. However since it's the Balkans we are talking about here, it might be a good idea to ban travelling away fans in order to avoid violent outbursts.

The bottom four teams each year will be relegated and their place will be taken by the remaining teams of the national championship. Of course they will have to play eliminations because there are four spots and eleven competing nations.

Right now the BSL is just an idea but if carried out properly it can resurrect the passion for local football that some fans on the Balkans are rapidly loosing. The new competition might generate enormous revenue from television broadcasting rights and commercial activities since the combined population of all competing nations is around 140 million people (more than half of that comes from Turkey).

Another benefit of the BSL would be that teams will get stronger because every year they are playing and competing against the best players of their neighboring countries. This might force them to think and play in a different way, create new strategies and try to outsmart the bigger teams.

Or all could succumb to a tornado of chaos and incompetence and lead to Balkan War III. What do we know… it’s the Balkans after all.