Florentino Perez, President of Real Madrid on 18 February 2020 in Madrid, Spain.
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LONDON – The president of the European Super League said the plans to form a new breakaway elite competition were designed to save ‘football’, which runs counter to widespread criticism by claiming that change is needed because young people ‘ no longer interested in the sport. .
Florentino Perez, who is also the president of the Spanish club Real Madrid, said in an interview with the Spanish television program El Chiringuito de Jugones on Monday: ‘When there is a change, there are always people who are against it … and we are doing it to save football at this critical moment. ‘
“The audience is declining, and rights are declining and something had to be done. We are all devastated. Television needs to change so we can adapt,” he continued.
“Young people are no longer interested in football. Why not? Because there are a lot of poor quality games and they are not interested, they have other platforms on which they can divert their attention,” Perez said.
Perez did not provide evidence of younger football fans deviating from the sport due to a lack of interest nor to the decline in figures for television viewers.
His comments come shortly after it was announced that 12 of the richest football teams in Europe, including Real Madrid, had signed up as founding members of the ESL. JPMorgan supported the $ 6 billion financing of the project.
The ESL is designed to compete with the UEFA Champions League, Europe’s largest annual club competition, and is intended to start ‘as soon as it’s feasible’.
Teams that have agreed to play in the ESL:
- England: Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool, Tottenham, Chelsea and Arsenal.
- Spain: Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid.
- Italy: Juventus, AC Milan and Inter Milan.
The ESL will eventually consist of 20 clubs and 15 of them will be permanent, meaning they cannot be relegated. This is controversial because teams currently have to qualify for the Champions League every year and they could be promoted and relegated from England’s Premier League, La Liga of Spain and Serie A of Italy.
The move has caused outrage among lawmakers, governing bodies, former players, supporters, managers and experts, and many are concerned about the consequences for the structure of local competition.
This is because the current ‘pyramid scheme’ allows teams to rise and fall on their earnings from their respective leagues. The 14 Premier League clubs not participating in the ESL are expected to discuss their response to the matter on Tuesday.
UEFA President Alexander Ceferin condemned the ESL project and described the move as “a spit in the face” of all football fans. “We will not allow them to take it away from us,” he added.
‘Core Principles’
In 2018, the Premier League reported a significant drop in money raised from the sale of football match rights in the UK
BT and Sky have offered £ 4.4 billion ($ 6.1 billion) to watch the majority of 200 matches for each season between 2019 and 2022 on television. The figure was lower than £ 5.1 billion in 2015.
In a joint statement on Sunday, the twelve teams planning to join the ESL said: “The formation of the Super League comes at a time when the global pandemic is accelerating the instability of the existing European football economic model. has.”
“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,” they added.
NAPLES, CAMPAIGN, ITALY – 2017/03/07: Real Madrid players celebrate after Sergio Ramos’ first goal during the Champions League.
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The organizers claim that the ESL will generate more money than the UEFA Champions League competition and will lead to a greater income distribution through the sport.
The world governing body FIFA sharply criticized the proposal and called for further talks with those involved.
“According to us and in accordance with our statutes, any football competition, whether national, regional or global, must always reflect the core principles of solidarity, inclusivity, integrity and equitable financial distribution,” FIFA said on Monday.
“In addition, the governing bodies of football must use all legal, sporting and diplomatic means to ensure that this remains the case,” they added.
– CNBC’s Sam Shead contributed to this report.