Dream Football League: What Is It and What Does It Mean for Champions League?

European-based football fans awoke on Wednesday to the news that the world of the sport they love was due for a huge shake-up if certain high net-worth individuals got their way, with the proposal of a Dream Football League to be set up.

ESPN report (h/t original reporting from Times) that members of the Qatari royal family are keen to bankroll a super version of the UEFA Champions League, with massive financial incentives for the competing teams to ensure that this new competition becomes their prime focus in future.

It is a ground-breaking idea which could sound as attractive to some as it could alarming to others, so what is the real deal with it and how likely a scenario is it?

The Basics of the Dream Football League (DFL)

First of all, no real announcement or confirmed details are as yet forthcoming. This is a report in an English newspaper which details what they have been able to glean so far; enough to make it worthwhile worrying about, but no official comment has been made by those involved or those who could play in it.

The DFL aims to bring 24 of the world's biggest clubs together once every two years to take part in a super competition, pitching the greatest players against each other more regularly than the present formats of the Champions League, Copa Libertadores and Club World Cup championships allow.

According to these initial reports, 16 of the teams would be "permanent" in the competition, with up to four of those coming from the Premier League in England, while the other eight clubs would be picked according to form, success and, presumably, fan lure.

The finances on offer are what makes the tournament such a potentially attractive proposition to clubs.

Competing in the DFL would see clubs profit handsomely, with the organisers "expected to offer in the region of £175 million for elite clubs such as Barcelona and Manchester United to compete every two-year cycle."

What would the DFL Mean for the UEFA Champions League (and equivalents elsewhere)?

First and foremost, if there is a genuine threat to the Champions League and other flagship competitions in each territory regulated and overseen by FIFA, then football's governing body is likely to do anything and everything it can to prevent the balance of power being shifted.

5.UEFA and FIFA will have to sanction the potential event which is not a formality.

— Daniel Geey (@FootballLaw) March 13, 2013

What the DFL organisers would hope for, though, is for the participating clubs to make this highly lucrative tournament their prime focus; no longer would the domestic championship be about qualifying for the Champions League, but about being selected to play in the DFL.

And it wouldn't stop there.

With the potential for tens, or hundreds of millions of pounds worth of prize money on offer, clubs would do everything they could to prove they deserved a shot at bringing their name to the cup.

Global brand marketing. Key demographic exploitation. Midseason friendlies in far-off lands to prove their appeal to supporters. Signing massive-name players on big contracts who will be must-haves at a landmark tournament.

And so the dangerous slide back toward financial ruin might begin for some once more.

Where temptations of riches and glory await, so does the possibility of pitfalls and greed.

The Champions League would be a filler competition, something to keep clubs occupied until the next round of the DFL. For those who already see the Champions League as a huge distorter of the abilities of clubs to play the game on an even footing, the DFL might start to seem like something of a nightmare.

How Likely is it to Begin?

That remains to be seen.

The Times' story, and the reports which have emanated from it such as that of ESPN, are hesitant to offer too much of an insight here since there have been no official comments on the matter from anyone in authority.

Another twist is that EuroSport-Yahoo! report that the story has been taken from elsewhere, where it was meant only as a satirical look at the future possibilities for the game.

While clubs might be anxious to locate new revenue streams to negotiate the Financial Fair Play rules, whether they would go to the extreme lengths of creating what would effectively be a breakaway Super League is also up for debate.

There is doubtless much more of this proposed league that we have yet to hear about, and the rumours will run and run until either a representative of the Qatari royal family comes forward to announce something formally, or a congregation of clubs jointly dismiss the idea.

In theory it seems tantalising on first glances, yet with the jagged possibility of disaster and disarray that could spread through the sport underneath.

$200 million carries a lot of weight, though.

The true nature of football could yet be revealed with the formation, or rejection, of the DFL.

Follow @karlmatchett