What has happened?
Twelve of Europe’s leading football clubs have announced they have agreed to establish a new midweek competition, the European Super League, governed by its ‘Founding Clubs’.
LONDON — A dozen of the world’s richest and most storied soccer clubs on Sunday announced that they had formed a breakaway European club competition that would, if it comes to fruition, upend the structures, economics and relationships that have bound global soccer for nearly a century.
After months of secret talks, the breakaway teams — which include Real Madrid and Barcelona in Spain; Manchester United and Liverpool in England; and Juventus and A.C. Milan in Italy — confirmed their plans late Sunday. They said they planned to add at least three more founding members, hold midweek matches that would put the league in direct competition with the existing Champions League, and begin play “as soon as practicable.”
Which clubs are involved?
The Premier League’s big-six clubs – Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham – are all involved.
AC Milan, Arsenal, Atletico Madrid, Chelsea, Barcelona, Inter Milan, Juventus, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Real Madrid and Tottenham Hotspur have all joined as ‘Founding Clubs’.
It is anticipated a further three clubs will join ahead of the inaugural season, which, according to the clubs, ‘is intended to commence as soon as practicable’.
German giants Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund are not included and nor are French champions Paris Saint-Germain.
The ESL said it also planned to launch a women’s competition as soon as possible after the men’s tournament starts.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Uefa and the Premier League condemned the move when the news broke on Sunday.
And speaking on Monday, he said the government was “going to look at everything that we can do with the football authorities to make sure that this doesn’t go ahead in the way that it’s currently being proposed”.
Speaking to broadcasters on a visit to Gloucestershire, he said: “I don’t think that it is good news for fans, I don’t think it’s good news for football in this country.”
Legendary Arsenal goalkeeper David Seaman is upset by the news that the Gunners are among the founding members of the Super League.
“For me, the history of the Football League, not just the Premier League but all the leagues, is now at risk of falling by the wayside,” Seaman told Sky Sports.
“For me, it doesn’t sit right. I think it’s a disgrace, if I’m honest. I think they are just dipping their toes in the water to feel the reaction and I think the reaction they’ve got is 100 times worse than what they thought they were going to get.
“It’s a sad day for football and, for me, it’s a sad day for Arsenal.”
More damning words from UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin, with Juventus chief Andrea Agnelli the main target of criticism.
“I have never seen a person lie so many times and as persistently as he did. I spoke with him on Saturday afternoon and he said it is all lies,” Ceferin said, per the Times.
“We didn’t know we had snakes so close to us, now we know.”
Very strong words from UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin regarding the Super League project.
Ceferin says the clubs involved have “spat in the face of football” and has vowed to take measures against those who may partake.
“I cannot stress more strongly how everyone is united against this disgraceful, self-serving proposals, fuelled by greed above all else,” said the European governing body’s chief.
“We are all united against this nonsense of a project. Cynical plan, completely against what football should be. We cannot and will not allow that to change.
“Players who will play in the teams that might play in the closed league will be banned from the World Cup and Euros.
The leaders of the breakaway group have been trying to get other top teams, like Germany’s Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund and the French champion Paris St.-Germain, to commit. But to date those clubs — and others — have declined to walk away from the domestic structures and continental competitions that have underpinned European soccer for generations.
Their concerns can be political and financial. P.S.G.’s president, Nasser al-Khelaifi, sits on the UEFA board, for example, and also heads beIN Media Group, the Qatar-based television network that has paid millions of dollars for the broadcast rights to games in the Champions League and various domestic competitions.
