European football’s breakaway Super League has been in tatters since the six English Premier League clubs involved in the project went on strike 48 hours after agreeing to join the controversial elite competition between the Italian and Spanish teams.
After a storm of protests from supporters, players, managers and governments, along with threats of bans and sanctions by European and world governing bodies UEFA and FIFA, the English clubs threw in the towel on Tuesday.
Manchester City were the first to withdraw from the business, and then Arsenal, Manchester United, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea announced that they were following suit.
The Super League has issued a statement suggesting that although they would suspend their project, they have not given up completely.
“Given the current circumstances, we will reconsider the most appropriate steps to reform the project and always keep in mind our goals to provide fans with the best experience possible while increasing solidarity payments for the entire football community,” the statement said.
The Madrid-based organization said the departure of the English teams was due to ‘pressure’ placed on them and said they were ‘convinced that the current status quo of European football should change’.
The league, which was announced on Sunday with 12 founding members, is being hosted by Real Madrid president Florentino Perez, the chairman of the new competition. Three Italian clubs are now left behind – AC Milan, Juventus and Inter Milan – plus Perez’s Real Madrid along with Barcelona and Atletico Madrid from Spain.
Perez canceled a scheduled radio interview on Tuesday.
More deviations are expected
Inter Milan are likely to be the next to leave with Italian news agency ANSA, citing a club source: “The Super League project in its current state is no longer considered by Inter.”
UEFA, whose proposed new league has jeopardized the best Champions League competition, has threatened to ban the clubs and players who have joined the Super League.
However, its president, Alexander Ceferin, had earlier urged English clubs to reconsider and adopt a conciliatory tone.
“I said yesterday it is admirable to admit a mistake and these clubs have made a big mistake,” he said after the English clubs announced their decisions to leave.
‘But they are now back in the fold and I know that they can offer a lot not only for our competitions, but also for the whole European match.
“The important thing now is that we move on, rebuild the unit that enjoyed the game before this time and move forward together,” he said.
In addition to the drama, Manchester United vice-president Ed Woodward announced his resignation shortly before his club abandoned a project he had influenced.
# SuperLeague is officially CLOSED 🚨🚫
English clubs have left (Chelsea will also be official soon).
Inter are gone, AC Milan are leaving.
– Juventus and Spanish clubs: awaiting official post.The whole # SuperLeague was stopped to reform the project.
– Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) 20 April 2021
The reigning European champions, Bayern Munich, and the French giants, Paris Saint-Germain, tipped strongly against the breakaway league.
Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson tweeted a statement on behalf of the group, saying: ‘We do not like it and do not want it to happen. This is our joint position. ”
More money
The Super League argued that this would increase the revenue to the top clubs and enable them to hand out more money to the rest of the game.
US investment bank JP Morgan has been brought in to finance the new league, with a € 3.5 billion ($ 4.21 billion) allocation to founding clubs to spend on infrastructure and repair the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, the sport’s governing bodies, other teams and supporters’ organizations have said that the Super League will strengthen the power and wealth of the elite clubs, and the partially closed structure of the league is at odds with European football’s long – standing model.
Unlike the current Champions League competition at the highest level in Europe, where teams have to qualify through their local league, the founding members of the Super League would have guaranteed their place in the new competition every year.
Most English clubs made only brief statements, but Arsenal apologized to their fans for their involvement.
Brighton players wear UEFA Champions League and anti-European Super League t-shirts as they warm up ahead of the English Premier League football match between Chelsea and Brighton and Hove Albion on Tuesday in London. [Neil Hall/AFP]
“It was never our intention to cause such an emergency, but when the invitation to join the Super League wanted to know that there were no guarantees, we did not want to be left behind to ensure that we protect Arsenal and its future.
‘As a result of listening to you and the wider football community in recent days, we are withdrawing from the proposed Super League. We made a mistake and apologized for it, ‘the London club said in an open letter to fans.
The magnitude of the rift in the game and the strong sense of generating it led political leaders across Europe to speak out and in some cases threaten intervention.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said his government would consider passing legislation to stop the breakaway, and compared plans to create a cartel.
The Premier League has said it rejects the plans “unanimously and forcefully”. After a meeting with the 14 non-involved clubs, he said it was considering “all possible actions” to stop the new competition.
“We have been listening carefully to the reaction of our supporters, the British Government and other key stakeholders,” Manchester United said in a statement.
“We remain committed to working with other people in the football community to find sustainable solutions to the long-term challenges.”