Twelve of Europe’s top football clubs have decided to create a Super League as soon as possible, according to a joint statement issued on Sunday April 18.
The mid-week league’s founding clubs included English Premier League clubs Manchester United and Manchester City, as well as Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur, and Chelsea.
The other clubs are AC and Inter Milan of Italy, and FC Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Atletico Madrid of Spain.
“A further three clubs are expected to participate ahead of the upcoming season, which is expected to begin as soon as possible,” the 12 clubs said in a joint statement.
The announcement stated that 15 of the 20 participating clubs will be lifetime participants, while the other five will “qualify annually based on successes in the previous season.”
According to the New York Times, the new league would “generate hundreds of millions of dollars in extra income for competing clubs.”
Winners of the 2019/2020 UEFA Champions League Bayern Munich and finalists Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) are not said to have signed up or expressed concern.
However, the project, which is said to be financially quite profitable, is not supported by football’s governing bodies.
Prior to the release of the statement, UEFA and football leagues and federations in England, Italy, and Spain referred to it as a “cynical enterprise.”
They called it “a project built on the self-interest of a few clubs at a time when society requires unity more than ever.”
“As previously announced by FIFA and the six Federations, the clubs in question would be barred from competing in all other domestic, European, or global competition.
“Their players could be denied the opportunity to play for their respective national teams.
Read Also: women-league-edo-queens-delta-queens-to-meet-on-monday
“We thank the clubs in other countries, especially those in France and Germany, who have declined to sign up to this.”
The Premier League in England said prior to the announcement that it “condemns any idea that attacks the values of free competition and sporting merit.”
“These are at the top of the domestic and European football food chain.”
The Football Association (FA) in England has condemned the proposals, and Christian Seifert, the head of the German Football League, expressed his organization’s opposition.
“We oppose the idea of a European Super League,” which would “irreparably damage the national leagues as the foundation of European professional football.”
The new move came on the eve of a meeting of the UEFA executive committee.
Aside from finalizing the host cities for the summer Euro tournament, the conference will also authorize a Champions League reform beginning in 2024.
The strong European Club Association (ECA) and UEFA’s club competitions committee were said to be in agreement on the change on Friday.
The elite event will be expanded from 32 to 36 teams, with each team playing ten group games rather than six, in what is known as the “Swiss model.
