Florentino Perez said he was “absolutely certain” that Real Madrid and other Super League players would not be thrown out of the Champions League season over their role in the proposed breakaway group. the quarterfinals “and clubs” will all die “without major reform.
Madrid president Perez – one of the driving forces behind the Super League project, who has been named chairman – is the first senior executive to speak publicly since Sunday’s announcement.
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“The Champions League is attractive from the quarter-finals, that’s all,” he said late in the Spanish conversation El Chiringuito. “We play against small teams that are not attractive. Young people like to entertain themselves with other things. But if we do it all season, five games on Tuesday, five on Wednesday, it would be unstoppable.
“What would bring in money is that the fifteen clubs play each other every week. It’s the biggest show in the world, there is nothing like it,” he added. ” ‘N Real Madrid-Manchester [United] whether a Barcelona-Milan is more attractive than Manchester [United] against a small club.
“What does the world demand? We have fans in Singapore, in China, around the world. You see it on social media the followers they have. That’s what makes money.”
12 clubs – AC Milan, Arsenal, Atletico Madrid, Chelsea, Barcelona, Internazionale, Juventus, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Real Madrid and Tottenham Hotspur – have joined the ESL as founding members.
The breakaway competition, which is intended as a replacement for UEFA’s Champions League – which announced its own reform plans on Monday – said three more clubs are expected to join, while another five qualify on the basis of performance.
“Today, with the revenue from the Champions League as it is, we will die,” Perez said, emphasizing the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. “Less hearing, less money. We will all die, the big clubs, the medium-sized clubs, the small clubs. They say the new Champions League format will come in by 2024, and then we will be dead.”
Perez is the first chairman of the Super League, while Andrea Agnelli of Juventus and Joel Glazer of Manchester United have been named vice-chairmen.
The project has received a lot of criticism from football’s governing bodies, supporters and other high-profile clubs not involved.
La Liga called the ESL a “selfish, selfish proposal designed to further enrich the already super-rich” in a statement Monday.
Sevilla – currently in fourth place in La Liga behind the three ESL fans Atletico, Real and Barca – have expressed their ‘complete rejection of a tournament based solely on economic parameters’.
Perez, 74, who was re-elected as president of Real Madrid for another four-year term without opposition earlier this month, also rejected the proposal that the club could be thrown out of the Champions League season.
Madrid must face Chelsea on Tuesday 27 April in the first match of their semi-final before returning on Wednesday 5 May.
“They will definitely not throw Madrid out of the Champions League,” Perez said. “Not Madrid or [Manchester] City or anyone. I’m absolutely sure. Or La Liga. ‘
Jesper Moller, the Danish member of UEFA’s executive committee, said on Monday that he expects Madrid, Chelsea and Manchester City to be removed from the competition.
Perez also insisted that players “can be completely calm” because they are banned from participating in UEFA and FIFA international tournaments such as the World Cup, “because that will not happen.”