The idea of a ‘European Super League’ has been floating around for some time, but it has found fresh fertile ground amid a global pandemic, which has reduced the balance sheets in the professional football landscape and apparently led to several scared moneymen inventing. a way to better secure their investments.
And so, enter the European Super League – no European, just those – officially launched today, though without much more than a list of twelve clubs that are founding members.
To make it clear, it is meant to replace the European matches in the middle of the week, not domestic competitions. Although the local leagues have so far been fiercely opposed, they should remain UEFA and FIFA, which currently have the biggest power in football.
Chelsea are one of the six English clubs joining, but (surprisingly?) Not one of the headliners. The (doubtful) honor belongs to Real Madrid, Juventus and Manchester United, with Barcelona, Atlético Madrid, AC Milan, Inter Milan, Liverpool, Manchester City, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur coaching the dirty dozen.
According to their official statement, The Super League expects three more clubs to join as the first 15 “founding members” and they plan to launch the league with 20 teams “as soon as possible”. The 15 founders will always be present (hence guaranteed income), while five more will perform based on achievements in local competitions.
Someone’s guess is the question of when it’s possible, if ever. The brains behind this Super League want to work with UEFA and FIFA and the local leagues to find out the part, and it seems unlikely that it will be figured out without some kind of (financial) bloodshed. UEFA are unlikely to give up their Champions League cash cows and so on, and since they have the support of FIFA and the various football clubs, they have been used to maintain the status quo.
The Super League revolution will be broadcast one way or another. We can only call it the Champions League.
The statement in full:
Twelve of Europe’s top football clubs have teamed up today to announce that they have agreed to set up a new midweek competition, the Super League, run by its founding clubs.
AC Milan, Arsenal FC, Atlético de Madrid, Chelsea FC, FC Barcelona, FC Internazionale Milano, Juventus FC, Liverpool FC, Manchester City, Manchester United, Real Madrid CF and Tottenham Hotspur have all joined as founding clubs. Three more clubs are expected to join before the entry season, which is set to start as soon as possible.
In the future, the founding clubs look forward to holding talks with UEFA and FIFA to work together in partnership to deliver the best results for the new league and football as a whole.
The formation of the Super League comes at a time when the global pandemic has accelerated the instability in the existing European football economic model. Furthermore, the founding clubs have for a number of years aimed to improve the quality and intensity of existing European competitions during each season, and to create a format for top clubs and players to compete regularly.
The pandemic has shown that a strategic vision and a sustainable commercial approach are needed to increase value and support for the benefit of the entire European football pyramid. In recent months, there have been extensive discussions with football stakeholders about the future format of European competitions. The founding clubs believe that the solutions proposed after these talks do not resolve fundamental issues, including the need to provide higher quality matches and additional financial resources for the overall football pyramid.
Competition format
20 participating clubs with 15 founding clubs and a qualifying mechanism for a further five teams to qualify annually based on achievements in the previous season.
Midweek matches with all the participating clubs continuing to participate in their respective national leagues, retaining the traditional local match calendar, which remains the core of the club match.
An August begins with clubs competing in two groups of ten, playing home and away matches, and the top three in each group automatically qualify for the quarter-finals. Teams finishing fourth and fifth will then compete in a two-legged play-off for the remaining quarter-finals. A two-legged knockout format will be used to reach the final at the end of May, which will be presented as a single match in a neutral venue.
As soon as this is practically possible after the start of the men’s competition, a corresponding women’s league will also be launched to promote and develop the women’s game.
The new annual tournament offers significantly greater economic growth and support for European football through a long-term commitment to unlimited solidarity payments that will increase in line with league revenues. These solidarity payments will be significantly higher than those generated by the current European competition and are expected to exceed € 10 billion during the club’s initial commitment period. In addition, the competition will be built on a sustainable financial foundation, with all founding clubs signing a spending framework. In return for their commitment, founding clubs will receive € 3.5 billion just to support their infrastructure investment plans and to offset the impact of the COVID pandemic.
Florentino Pérez, president of Real Madrid CF and the first chairman of the Super League, said:
‘We will help football at every level and take it to its rightful place in the world. Soccer is the only global sport in the world with over four billion fans and we as big clubs are responsible for responding to their desires. ”
Andrea Agnelli, chairman of Juventus and vice-chairman of the Super League, supported the new European league:
“Our 12 founding clubs represent billions of fans around the world and 99 European trophies. We have come together at this critical moment to change the European competition, to place the game we love on a sustainable foundation for the long-term future, to significantly increase solidarity and to give fans and amateur players a regular stream of chapters. nurtures their passion for the game and offers them captivating role models. ”
Joel Glazer, co-chairman of Manchester United and vice-chairman of the Super League, said:
“By bringing together the world’s biggest clubs and players playing each other during the season, the Super League will open a new chapter for European football, ensuring world – class competition and facilities, and increasing financial support for the wider football pyramid.”