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Super League Uproar; Kremlin Critic Alexei Navalny Moved to Prison Hospital; Chadian President Dies from Injuries on Front Line; International Energy Agency Issues "Dire Warning" on Climate Change; Beckham's Warning on Planned Super League. Aired 10-11a ET
Aired April 20, 2021 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[10:00:00]
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ALEKSANDER CEFERIN, UEFA PRESIDENT: If 12 people meet and want to take footballers hostage just to full (sic) their pockets that are already so
full that it's hard to put anything in, it can't win.
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST (voice-over): This hour, top football clubs scoring an howler of an on goal with their super league announcement, which
begs the question, why are they doing it?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON (voice-over): Then --
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SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Is there an element here, that he is seeking martyrdom?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, of course, not.
ANDERSON (voice-over): And as Alexei Navalny's health continues to deteriorate, CNN speaks to his chief of staff.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON (voice-over): Plus, a dire climate warning from the International Energy Agency. Global emissions set to see the second biggest spike ever.
We'll connect you to the IEA's executive director.
I'm Becky Anderson. Hello and welcome to CONNECT THE WORLD. I want to start with a question.
What unites these three?
World leader, a member of the royal family and FIFA's president?
Well, the answer: they are all furious over this news, splashed on the front pages of newspapers across Britain and the rest of Europe; 12 of the
continent's best squads planning to break away from European football and form their own super league, six from England, three from Spain and three
from Italy.
Some of the sport's most iconic clubs with some of the game's biggest footballers, these founding members hope to expand the league to 15 teams
before the inaugural season starts and then add five more later.
Critics are calling this a shameless money grab. Boris Johnson, the U.K. prime minister, talking about government intervention to stop the new
league today, saying no action is off the table.
Prince William, who is also the English Football Association's president, calling for grassroots action to prevent damage to, in his words, "the game
we love."
And FIFA's president with very blunt comments at the UEFA Congress, warning these clubs will have to live with the consequences of their choice.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GIANNI INFANTINO, FIFA PRESIDENT: There is no doubt whatsoever of FIFA's disapproval for this. If some elect to go their own way, then they must
live with the consequences of their choice. They are responsible for their choice. Concretely, this means either you are in or you're out. You cannot
be half in or half out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Let's talk more about this with "WORLD SPORT's" Alex Thomas and Darren Lewis, who has interviewed the head of UEFA.
And we just heard from FIFA's president. Pretty obvious how he feels. You've spoken to the UEFA head.
What did he tell you, Darren?
DARREN LEWIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, he was angry. He was hurt. He felt betrayed. And I'll explain why.
I think as far as he was concerned, he put his plans to reform the existing Champions League for the elite clubs in European football to two of the
chairmen, two of the guys, who run big clubs in Europe, the Juventus chairman, Andrea Agnelli, and the chief executive of Manchester United, Ed
Woodward.
And they reassured him that they would back their plans, only to go away and actually accelerate their own plans for that super league.
Let's not kid ourselves. Infantino says you can't be half in or half out. Well, these are all rich men, who want to set up their own cartel with zero
accountabilities.
It's like a private members' club to feast off the fortunes of football, knowing that they can sell the rights to those games on their own platforms
and make millions and millions of pounds.
That's why Ceferin is so keen to fight this. And that's why fans are so keen to prevent that happening and for Ceferin to win. But here's the
problem, as I said before, he's being stabbed in the back, he says, by the people he trusts.
[10:05:00]
LEWIS: Have a listen to what he had to say.
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CEFERIN: On Saturday, I heard rumors about some super league announcement. I called Agnelli. He said it's a lie. It's not true, don't believe it. And
then he says, I'll call you in one hour and he doesn't pick up the phone anymore. He even turned it off.
And then I felt that something might happen next day. So we were quite surprised. But also the other 235 clubs are quite surprised because their
chairman approved something and then ran away. And he is still hiding probably somewhere. I don't know where he is.
LEWIS: (INAUDIBLE) because I understand that you are godfather to his child.
CEFERIN: Yes, this is more a personal thing and I don't want to enter into this. I just want to say that I thought we are also friends. But I was
wrong. But for me, it's always better to be naive than to lie all the time. I might be naive.
LEWIS: How confident are you that you can fight these players?
CEFERIN: I am confident we are doing the right thing. And because we are confident we are doing the right thing and we respect the fans, tradition,
football, football community, our society, we will win. In the end, we will win.
If 12 people meet and want to take footballers hostage just to full (sic) their pockets that are already so full that it's hard to put anything in,
it can't win. Long term, they can't win. We will win.
And I am very proud of the football community, of the society, of the media, even which is sometimes rare, of politicians who reacted in a
fantastic way, prime minister of Great Britain, president of France, many prime ministers around Europe, European Commission, European Parliament.
The reaction of all the society is unanimous. We are united. And it's very good because, in a way, it's good that this happened. Now we know who is
who and we have to clear up this situation once and for all.
LEWIS: I saw you used the word "snake." Just explain what you mean in that context.
CEFERIN: I don't know if it was a too emotional expression but the snake means that you don't know that it's hiding somewhere and then it bites when
you don't expect it.
So we didn't know. You know, and it's very hard to believe that somebody looks into your eyes 20 times and says, everything is fine. It's all a lie.
Knowing that he's lying. It's really hard to understand.
I was surprised. I said before that I was a criminal lawyer for years and I've met many tricky people that I represented. But I've never seen
something like that. Ethics doesn't exist in this group.
LEWIS: There are lots of cynics out there, Mr. President, people who think the game was never pure.
Why would you see yourself as a better person to run football than a Florentino Perez or the people in charge of the European super league?
CEFERIN: Look, I don't think it's about me or Florentino Perez. I'm a football administrator and I have to know all the time that football is
about football players and about fans, not about me.
But you know the difference between UEFA and this -- it's hard for me to call it super league because it's all but super -- UEFA redistributes 86
percent to 89 percent of all the money back to the grassroots, to the youth football, to women's football.
We have a great foundation for children that helps all around the world. We are building pitches around the world who have children. We are developing
football. We are not a profit organization.
And, you know, I'm fighting here but my situation would not change. With this so-called or self-proclaimed super league, it's all about money,
profits, taking money, not sharing with anyone. And they don't know anything about solidarity. They are shameless.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEWIS: Yes, Becky, really harsh words there from the UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin. He has gone on today to say there's a way back for the
clubs who have signed up to the super league.
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LEWIS: But the understanding is that those clubs are undeterred in pursuing the entry to what would be a lucrative tournament for them.
Now what happens next?
The talk is, Ceferin told me, that he will now look at his legal team. He's a lawyer himself. And wholesome conversations about potentially kicking out
three of the four clubs who were in the semifinals of the Champions League -- leaving the French champions, PSG, who have indicated already that they
will not join that league -- out of the Champions League.
Also kicking out the players from those clubs from UEFA's international competition, this summer's European championships.
Is that feasible?
Can they do it?
Today is a day that we'll find out. But certainly the Danish FA chief Jesper Moller is in no doubt. He said yesterday, the clubs must go. I
expect that to happen by Friday. We wait and see what will happen after a very dramatic few days in world football.
ANDERSON: You've got to feel for PSG, who just played their way into the semifinals and, obviously, desperate to get a victory out of this, this
season.
Look, Alex, if the football community, as Ceferin describes it, thinks this is such a terrible idea, why are these top clubs doing it?
ALEX THOMAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Because they can, because they have the power, the money, the influence to do it. They see football in Europe as
being undervalued, even though the Champions League is admired across the planet.
They feel there's still money to be made, bigger broadcast deals to be struck. We know that JPMorgan, the American-based financial services firm,
have already publicly confirmed that they are the ones initially backing this project.
And they seem fairly confident they can get broadcast partners on board that will pay more money. What's interesting, though, is we're hearing
nothing from -- or very little -- from the backers and from the 12 dirty dozen, as they're being called.
We have heard from the Real Madrid president, Florentino Perez, who's also the chair of the new super league organization that's been set up. This is
what he had to say on Spanish television Monday night.
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FLORENTINO PEREZ, PRESIDENT, REAL MADRID (through translator): Interest in football has already been lost. First, we have to analyze why 40 percent of
the young people between 16 and 25 are no longer interested in football.
So why are they not interested in football?
Well, because there are too many matches of poor quality and they aren't interesting. They have other platforms to entertain themselves with. This
is the reality. They're not going to kick us out of the Champions League, not Madrid, not City, none of them. I'm sure, sure, completely sure, not
from La Liga, from nothing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
THOMAS: Not surprisingly, Perez's claims that football is not attractive to younger people have come under intense scrutiny from other football
finance experts. It's definitely something to be debated. There's no doubt that they do have to think very hard about the future of the game.
The world is always evolving. Culture, hobbies, pastimes, we know there are lots of distractions for young people. We've seen the growth in esports,
for example. If you've got a niche liking of adrenaline sports, we've seen that on the rise as well.
So football has a more competitive global sports market out there. But people are saying this is one step too far.
ANDERSON: To both of you, thank you.
Just a short time ago, I spoke to the man running Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club, relatively small but a highly competitive football club on
the south coast of England. Wanted to get his thoughts on the planned super league. Overall, let me tell you, he is not a fan. I'll bring you that
conversation next hour on CONNECT THE WORLD.
Plenty of anger being aimed at Moscow this hour. The E.U., the U.S. and supporters of Alexei Navalny are raging at Russia over the Kremlin critic's
failing health. A short time ago, Germany added to the global pressure on the Kremlin, announcing it's, quote, "greatly concerned" for the Russian
opposition leader, who is in a prison hospital after three weeks on hunger strike in a nearby penal colony.
At one point the Kremlin said it didn't have any information on how Navalny was doing and, then a short time later, Russian prison officials announced
he is in satisfactory condition. I'm connecting you to Moscow now and to CNN's Sam Kiley. Sam?
KILEY: Becky, we have also heard from people inside his camp just in the last couple of hours that, during a visit yesterday, he was able to get a
visit from his lawyer, a relatively brief visit after a long wait in that hospital, which is inside itself a penal colony.
So it's a prison hospital. And it reportedly -- and we've got no supporting evidence; this is just coming from his camp -- doctors were struggling to
get needles into his vein in order to give him a glucose drip.
[10:15:00]
KILEY: Now if that is true, I am no medic, of course, but clearly that would be cause for further concern for Mr. Navalny.
It also raises questions and some very interesting questions about what his game plan is and whether or not he is deliberately, in a sense, trying to
crash himself into the Russian state and perhaps seek martyrdom. This is my report examining that.
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KILEY (voice-over): Cries of pain caused by poisoning.
An attempt to silence Russian opposition leader, Alexei Navalny, permanently. It failed. Today he languishes in a penal colony hospital in
his homeland. Again, his staff say close to death. Others must now speak for him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We see that a big fragile patient with an extremely high pain syndrome, with deterioration of leg and arm function, with
extremely elevated levels of potassium, that might cause fatal arrhythmia or fatal heart block.
KILEY (voice-over): With 20 days into hunger strike over his demands of independent medical attention, the international protests of his failing
health have been led by the U.S.
JAKE SULLIVAN, U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: We have communicated to the Russian government that what happens to Mr. Navalny, in their custody is
their responsibility and they will be held accountable by the international community.
KILEY (voice-over): Barely recovered from the nerve agent attack that nearly killed him, Navalny returned to Russia from Germany in January,
where he was detained for violating the terms of his probation, in a years old fraud case, which he said, was politically motivated. Then predictably,
sentenced and imprisoned.
KILEY: Is there an element here that he is seeking martyrdom?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, of course, not. He is just doing what he has to do, because he had to return because he didn't know anything wrong. He was not
given the medical treatment. He used the hunger strike route as a last resort but still as a legitimate political instrument, a legitimate tool of
the political fight.
KILEY (voice-over): Breaking down the walls of political power around the Kremlin will take much more.
KILEY: Any hopes that Alexei Navalny might have displacing Vladimir Putin from that building behind me remain pretty remote. Approval ratings for him
are at 19 percent; for Putin they are about 64 percent. There are also concerns within this movement, that efforts being made here in Moscow to
prescribe it as an extremist organization could snuff it out completely.
KILEY (voice-over): Meanwhile, the pro-democracy movement plans mass demonstrations on Wednesday against Putin and in support of Navalny, a man
that the Kremlin is keen to dismiss as insignificant.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He believes like a hooligan, absolutely, he trying to violate every rule that has been established. His (INAUDIBLE) all of that
is to attract attention.
KILEY (voice-over): Whatever the outcomes for Navalny and his movement inside Russia, beyond its borders, it's the next move of Vladimir Putin
that will receive the most attention.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KILEY: Becky, tomorrow, not only is the opposition here hoping to muster perhaps half a million people to take to the streets but they are also
facing -- or facing off, I should say, against Vladimir Putin, who is due to give his state of the union, his annual address to the nation and to the
political structures here in Moscow.
So you've got these combined polar opposites, both focused on trying to make public demonstrations of their power.
There is a recognition, I think, from within Navalny's movement, at least an acknowledgment, that a lot of people have been frightened away. There
were a lot of arrests last time there were demonstrations on the street in support of him when he was sentenced earlier this year.
And also the tightening of restrictions, particularly with regard to his movement itself, it's scaring people off. So they're saying that, for every
one that may take to the streets, there could be hundreds secretly in support of them. But we've got no evidence of that either, too, Becky.
ANDERSON: Yes, and what evidence that the Kremlin is interested in, in any way, in what the E.U., the U.S. and others are saying?
The U.S. ambassador to Russia, John Sullivan, for example, had a meeting with the Russian foreign ministry today. As I understand it, he informed
Russian officials that the U.S. will be holding the Russian government to account for its actions over Navalny.
And do we know any more about this meeting?
KILEY: Well, he has also announced that he is going to be returning to Washington, D.C.
[10:20:00]
KILEY: But he's saying it's not the consequence of an earlier, somewhat sarcastic request from Russian authorities, that perhaps he should do just
that, which coincided with the formal expulsion of 10 other American diplomats in a tit-for-tat exchange, following the Biden administration's
expulsion of 10 Russian diplomats over Russian alleged interference in the U.S. elections and mass hacking operations conducted by Russian
intelligence.
So Mr. Sullivan is returning home, he says, to go and see his family; hasn't seen them for a year, he says, but also to get some new guidance.
But he insists he'll be back and raised again the prospect of a Putin-Biden summit some time in the summer.
I think that, following this period of resetting, if that's what's going on here, in terms of the international relationship, certainly with the United
States and Russia, is something that the Putin administration will be looking forward to and hoping to carry off.
In terms of the relations with the European Union, they have really could have been much worse. You have European member, the Czech Republic,
chucking out 18 people that they said were Russian spies.
The Bulgarians have been summoned and told they'll be suffering from tit- for-tat expulsions. The Poles have thrown three diplomats out. The Russians have reacted in kind in a number of these areas.
And you have this massive troop build-up on the Ukrainian border, which is definitely causing anxiety, not just in Kiev but across the European
continent, Becky.
ANDERSON: Fascinating. Thank you, Sam Kiley, in Moscow for you.
The African nation of Chad has a new leader after its longtime president was killed on the battlefield. We'll have the details on that coming up.
Plus, 200,000 cases a day for six days running. Next hour, I'll bring you the view from India, where the COVID crisis is spiraling and hospitals are
now at breaking point.
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ANDERSON: The president of the North Central African country of Chad has died. His military spokesman said Idriss Deby had been visiting troops on
the front lines of clashes with rebels. He died from injuries he sustained there. He had been president for more than 30 years and had just won his
sixth term.
The rebels from Chad's north have been trying to oust Deby for years. The president's death comes just days after the country's military declared a
major victory against the rebellion. David McKenzie is following the developments for you from Johannesburg. David?
DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Becky, it's a hugely significant moment. Deby has been a feature in African politics and a strongman in that region
for more than three decades.
[10:25:00]
MCKENZIE: And these extraordinary events leading up to his killing and dying of injuries back in the capital, Jemeneh. He was due to be sworn in
for his sixth term. Instead of celebrating politically, he went to his troops on the front line, where they have been fighting at least two
columns of rebels coming from the north, that were moving onto Jemeneh.
As you say, they had declared victory but, in recent days, the U.S., U.K. and other western powers had said that their citizens should get out of the
country because Jemeneh was potentially under threat.
On visiting his troops -- and he was a former general and tactician -- he was somehow killed or died from his injuries. So it is now in charge, as a
military transitional council announced on state television by the spokesperson, and they said the son of the longtime president is now in
charge. Take a listen.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): The transitional military council assured the Chadian people that all provisions have been taken to assure
the peace, the security of the republican order. Long live the republic. Long live Chad. The president of the transitional military council general
will be Mahamat Kaka Deby.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCKENZIE: They said there will be elections in 18 months but this is a hugely significant, particularly since Deby, for all his faults
domestically, was a key ally of Western powers.
ANDERSON: David McKenzie on the story for you.
Still ahead, the dark side of the COVID recovery is firing back up. Carbon emissions are on the rise. We'll talk to an expert who says the situation
is dire.
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ANDERSON: In what is now is being called a dire warning for the planet, carbon emissions are set to surge by nearly 5 percent this year. That is
the second biggest increase ever. That's according to the International Energy Agency.
The group says, as economies like China recover from the pandemic, they are using more coal. The British prime minister Boris Johnson set to increase
the U.K.'s pledge for cutting emissions ahead of a virtual summit later this week. The executive director of the International Energy Agency, Fatih
Birol, joining us now.
[10:30:00]
ANDERSON: Can you just help us understand why you arrived at this headline announcement, "dire warning"?
FATIH BIROL, INTERNATIONAL ENERGY AGENCY: Thanks. Now last year, global economy saw a big drop as a result of COVID. And as everybody, we were
hoping to see global economic rebounds and economic activity starts to take place across the world.
The question was whether or not this economic rebound is going to bring emissions upwards or downwards. As we just said, many governments, such as
the U.S. government, the U.K. government, European state, China, Japan said, climate change is serious and we are having serious climate targets.
Now when we look at the numbers, as we always do it in the International Energy Agency, there is a widening gap between those pledges, government
statements and what is happening in the real life.
What we see is, this year, global emissions will increase substantially, mainly driven by coal used in electricity generation and, as a result, we
see the second highest increase in global emissions in the history.
ANDERSON: And there are more coal power plants set to join the world's grid, as it were. Look, your report rightly shows the economic bounty and
pollution are frankly twinned at the hip. Your organization still sees that.
You put economic recovery right next to higher demand for oil, which was always going to happen. We know this has to stop at some point.
How do you propose that that decoupling is made?
BIROL: First of all, what we see is that it is in the first three months of this year, which is the data, the expectation (INAUDIBLE) which is
(INAUDIBLE). What happened in the first three months, huge increase of coal, gas and oil. This is very clear.
And we expect, in the absence of concrete, immediate actions from the governments, this trend will continue this year -- and I'm afraid next year
as well. Therefore, the targets set by the governments to reach net zero emissions, to avoid catastrophic climate change, will be much, much more
difficult to reach.
So therefore, governments need to come not only with these targets but in 2050, 2030, but immediate, credible actions in all energy (ph) policies.
How are they going to change the energy policies?
In order to reduce the emissions, in order to reduce the use of coal and others and how are they going to finance those measures in the united (ph)
sector, meaning (ph) incredible declarations, announcement from governments, what kind of energy policies they are going to put in place
and how those policies will be financed.
ANDERSON: So we are promised that sort of information from the meeting that Joe Biden is holding at the White House this week in anticipation of
what is COP26 in Glasgow toward the end of the year.
While Joe Biden is hosting global leaders, either virtually or in person at that summit in a few days' time, apparently we should expect to see some
new targets by the U.S. The U.S., of course, is the world's second largest emitter of greenhouse gases.
What do you think the appropriate level of reduction for the U.S. would be?
And what will not be enough?
BIROL: So first of all, I commend President Biden for organizing this meeting, bringing the world leaders together to address one of the most
important questions of the day, within his 100 days of being in office, number one.
Number two, what I would expect from the leaders, including the United States, not only setting targets -- and I hope they'll be ambitious targets
-- but to tell us -- to tell the world how they are going to reach those targets.
What are the legs (ph) to reach those targets?
I will be also joining to the leaders' summit.
[10:35:00]
BIROL: And I will invite all the world leaders to come up with the credible energy policies to reach those targets. When it comes to the
United States, I expect that the United States will come up with an ambitious reduction of their emissions.
But as important as that, if not more important, how the United States government believes they are going to reach those targets, what kind of
energy policies, more wind, more solar, more --
(CROSSTALK)
ANDERSON: I understand that. Yes. No, and you make a very good point. It's like commitments are all well and good but how are you going to actually
honor those commitments is what's really important.
I just wonder what you believe is ambitious?
We learned earlier today that the British prime minister will announce a new pledge to reduce emissions by 70 percent -- or 78 percent, in fact --
of greenhouse gases by 2035 when compared to 1990 levels.
So is that realistic?
Is that ambitious enough?
And if so, should others follow suit to the tune of a 78 percent reduction in greenhouse gases by 2035?
BIROL: I think it is up to the U.S. president to announce the U.S.' ambitious goals there. But I expect a serious, radical reduction in the
emissions. And I am sure it will come true. Once again, those radical ambitions are good.
But what is better is to know how much money will be put in the right energy policies to reach those emissions. I read in the papers that the
U.S. may be coming with about 50 percent or so emission reductions.
If it is the case or Aramco's numbers, I would welcome that move.
ANDERSON: How do renewables fit into all of this, sir?
We saw a significant amount of -- a very significant amount of what is new capacity added to the world energy system in 2020 was renewables. I spoke
recently to the DG of the International Renewable Energy Agency, which is based here in Abu Dhabi.
He recently released a report that said that clean energy investments need to increase by 30 percent to a total of $131 trillion for climate goals to
be achieved by 2050.
With numbers like that, are we just stretching beyond our means at this point?
(CROSSTALK)
ANDERSON: Are we living in cloud cuckoo land?
BIROL: Let me make it very simple. The -- I gave a couple of pessimistic numbers or a bleak picture but one optimistic note in the whole climate
change debate, renewables are getting cheaper. Solar (INAUDIBLE) getting cheaper. The governments, companies, business (ph) will use renewables, not
only to save the world, save the planet because -- just because they are cheaper. This is very good news.
Our report came today. We say that the renewables are breaking records one after the other. But the question is, the issue is, renewables growth (ph)
alone, it is not enough to change the major trends. Renewables must be used for electricity generation. We need beyond that. The steel mills, the coal
power plants, transportation sector.
We need to clean that up, finding alternatives to those options, electric cars, carbon capture, storage (INAUDIBLE), hydrogen, we need new clean
energy technologies.
And what I am expecting from the Biden side this Thursday and Friday, many governments will come up with serious clean energy technology missions, not
only to address the climate change but to prepare their economies for the future.
ANDERSON: Got it. Thank you very much indeed for joining us. An important summit at the White House this Thursday, Friday. Thank you for setting it
up for us.
Firefighters getting control of a wildfire in South Africa. And though an historic library at the University of Cape Town has been destroyed, there
is still some hope for the manuscripts in the basement there.
Up this hour, more on the reaction to the proposed super league. One of football's most legendary stars saying it poses a danger to the future of
the game.
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ANDERSON: Drug agencies weighing in on the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine. The European Medicines Agency says that unusual blood clots should
be listed as a side effect on the packaging.
The agency says it should be considered a, quote, "very rare effect." This has been very controversial and the company maintains the benefits of the
vaccine outweigh any possible risks.
One of football's most iconic stars voicing his displeasure for the proposed European football league. David Beckham surrounded by fans in a
pre-COVID image, saying our sport is nothing without the fans, imploring that football must be for everyone with competition based on merit.
Amanda Davies is with me now.
David Beckham's voice or picture at least adding to just a litany of horror from fans, from footballers, from managers, from prime ministers and
presidents, members of the royal family, you know, there's sort of universal dislike for this idea of this new super league, Amanda.
Why?
AMANDA DAVIES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, there really is, Becky. And it is nonstop. I have rarely ever known a 72 hours like it in football. You'd
have to say, David Beckham, somebody who has played his football in the Premier League, in Spain, in Italy, in France, there is, though, something
of an irony that he's talking about the merits of competition, given that he owns an MLS side in the league where there isn't any relegation or
promotion at the moment.
But he isn't the only one, as you say, to be talking about this. This is at the heart of football, what dreams are made of, isn't it?
And people are speaking out all the time. We're going to be getting the view from the United States in "WORLD SPORT" coming up. And we've also
heard from two big names over the last hour, Marcus Rashford and Pep Guardiola.
ANDERSON: Amanda is back after the break. Second hour of CONNECT THE WORLD at the top of the hour.
[10:45:00]
END
