For me it was just the next stage in the sponsors ruining football.
Started with creating the Champions league (allegedly because they were pissed off that Real Madrid and AC Milan were drawn together in the 2nd round of the 1989-90 European cup instead of it being the Final)
Then came the 'seeding' system to ensure better teams don't cut each other's throats in qualifying, and they always get the second leg at their home ground
Next it was remove the 'away goals' to make it even less likely some upstart diddy team ruins their TV audiences
and coming soon - Certain teams won't need to actually win any domestic cups, or even finish in the top 10 of their league, they will automatically get european football based on their 'historical record' (or sellability)