A historic ruling was issued by the European Court of Justice on Thursday, sparking new speculation about the formation of a European Super League, but renewed efforts to create a new league for the top teams in Europe stumbled quickly – as the majority of the teams scheduled to join the controversial proposed league rejected it.
Main Facts
The European Court of Justice announced that UEFA, the European football governing body, has a monopoly on European football and cannot interfere with clubs’ plans to form a European Super League, after UEFA threatened to punish clubs when the league was originally proposed in 2021.
Spanish football giants Real Madrid and Barcelona welcomed the court’s decision and reaffirmed their commitment to joining the new league – with Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez describing it as a “fantastic opportunity to enhance European club football” and a “dawn of a new era.”
However, the third Spanish team in the original European Super League, Atlético Madrid, rejected the new proposal, considering that “the European football community does not support the European Super League.”
The Premier League, where five of the 12 proposed clubs for the European Super League play, declared that it “continues to reject any concept of this kind,” and five of the six clubs – Chelsea, Manchester United, Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur, and Liverpool – confirmed that they would not participate in a new league.
Arsenal is the only English club that has not issued a statement regarding the proposed league, but it had previously written an open letter to fans apologizing for its involvement in the original league in 2021.
Inter Milan also announced its strong rejection of the new proposal, but the other Italian clubs involved in the original European Super League efforts – Juventus and AC Milan – have not yet issued a statement.
Key Background
In April 2021, 12 clubs from England, Spain, and Italy attempted to form the “European Super League,” an elite international competition among some of the best teams in each country’s leagues. The European Super League claimed it intended to enhance “the quality and intensity of existing European competitions” by providing a weekly competitive opportunity for clubs from the top leagues in each country, rather than only participating in UEFA events like the Champions League. However, the idea faced strong opposition from fans, other teams, and government leaders, including then British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. A few days later, UEFA announced that it would ban participation in the European Super League – and the project quickly collapsed thereafter.
Recent Developments
A22 Sport, the management company for the European Super League, has issued a new proposal to revive the international league. The new league will feature 64 men’s teams and 32 women’s teams without permanent members – unlike the first version. Membership will depend on the team’s performance in local leagues, and matches will be held mid-week – in a format similar to the Champions League. However, the new proposal has received sharp criticism, as the Premier League, Bundesliga, La Liga, and Ligue 1 have come out against the proposal.
In conclusion, it can be said that the European Super League still faces major challenges in realizing its vision of forming a new league for the best teams in Europe. Despite the ruling issued by the European Court of Justice, many major clubs have rejected participation in the proposed league, indicating the difficulty of achieving this goal in the near future.
Leave a Reply