On Monday, as details emerged, fans and former players decried the apparent cash grab involved: the twelve founding clubs each stood to gain around four hundred million dollars in revenue. Reaction to the Super League was almost universally scathing. Unlike the Champions League, the hallowed tournament that pits the top-finishing sides of Europe’s domestic leagues against one another, the founding participants in the Super League would be guaranteed qualification, no matter how they were performing domestically. The idea was that these twelve “founding” clubs-along with up to eight other bankable sides-would compete in an annual tournament staged alongside their regular seasons. The Super League was described as a new, closed competition consisting of many of European soccer’s biggest, wealthiest clubs, including Real Madrid and Barcelona, in Spain, and Chelsea, Liverpool, and Manchester United, in England. Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford posted this on Twitter on Tuesday.We’ve largely become inured to the valorization of greed, and yet the announcement, on Sunday, of the creation of a European Super League still managed to shock. There has been very little from players at the clubs involved so far, but Liverpool veteran James Milner said in a post-match interview "I don't like it and I hope it doesn't happen,” while the club’s captain Jordan Henderson has reportedly called an emergency meeting of Premier League club captains for Wednesday. Real Madrid’s manager Zinedine Zidane refused to give his opinion on the situation, saying it was a question for the club president, Florentino Pérez, who will be the chairman of the new league.įormer Southampton player Francis Benali told Euronews: “It is about money and greed, it’s a closed ’s just been widely condemned by virtually everybody.” It’s not a sport if it doesn’t matter if you lose.” “When the relation between effort and success doesn’t exist, it’s not a sport. Managers of the clubs involved have refused to be drawn into making strong statements so far, with perhaps the exception of Pep Guardiola at Manchester City who said “it is not sport”. The English, Spanish, and Italian top leagues have all condemned the Super League. The Premier League’s all-time top goalscorer and pundit Alan Shearer called on the league to ban the Super League clubs immediately. The 55 member associations of UEFA have condemned the Super League.įIFA’s president Gianni Infantino gave his full support to UEFA, saying the Super League was a “closed shop”. “What does matter is that there is still time to change your mind. “Some will say it is greed, others (will say) disdain arrogance, flippancy or complete ignorance of England’s football culture. Real Madrid, Chelsea and Manchester City play in the Champions League semi finals next week, while Manchester United and Arsenal are set to play in the Europa League semi finals.Īddressing the owners of the six Premier League clubs, he said “you made a huge mistake.” He has raised the prospect of players for the club being banned from even representing their countries in UEFA and FIFA competitions, such as the Euros and World Cup. UEFA’s chief Aleksander Ceferin has lashed out, threatening the clubs with a ban from all UEFA competitions “as soon as possible”. What about the rest of the footballing world? UEFA warns European Super League players of international fixture bans. ![]() The Tottenham Hotspur Supporters Trust called the move from the club a "betrayal". This includes seeking joint representation to the Government and all of the relevant football authorities.” In England, supporters associations for all six clubs involved have signed a joint statement saying: “Despite our clubs' behaviour, we are unified in opposition to them and we will continue to do all we can collectively to stop these plans. ![]() ![]() It’s not often an issue brings together fans from arch rival clubs such as Arsenal and Tottenham, or Manchester United and Liverpool.īut that’s what has happened, as fan groups have insisted they will do what they can to stop their clubs from going ahead with the plans. He says UEFA needs to find a middle way, but also says this is one outcome of an unregulated approach to football in Europe, which has seen investors coming in from all over the world for decades, looking to make money. You’re talking about hundreds of clubs.What UEFA somehow needs to do is serve the needs of the majority, while being aware it is Real Madrid, AC Milan, Manchester United that generates revenue.” ![]() “The big teams are always pressuring UEFA to share more of their revenues with them, but UEFA doesn’t exist to serve the interests of just 12 clubs.
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