Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham are among the 12 clubs that have agreed to join the new European Super League (ESL).
In a seismic move in European football, the Premier League clubs will join Milan, Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Inter Milan, Juventus and Real Madrid.
The association said that the founding clubs agreed to hold a “new competition in the middle of the week” with the teams continuing to “compete in their respective national leagues.”
She said that the inaugural season “was intended to start as soon as practically possible” and “three more clubs are expected” to join the separatist team.
The association said it also plans to launch a women’s competition as soon as possible after the start of the men’s tournament.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, UEFA and the Premier League This move condemned When the news broke on Sunday.
Critics say the move is paid only by money, and would destroy local leagues and interfere with the integrity of the sport.
FIFA had said this before He will not admit such competition, Any participating player may be denied the opportunity to play in the World Cup.
The European Football Association (UEFA) repeated its warning on Sunday when it said that players participating in all other competitions at the local, European or global level would be banned and could be banned from representing their national teams.
After announcing ESL, FIFA expressed its “disapproval” of the proposed competition and called on “all parties participating in the heated discussions to engage in a calm, constructive and balanced dialogue in favor of the game.”
ESL has sent a letter to FIFA President Gianni Infantino and UEFA President Alexandre Ceferin to issue a Notice of Legal Action in European Courts designed to block any penalties that the governing bodies may attempt to impose on the formation of English as a second language.
“From now on, the founding clubs are looking forward to holding discussions with UEFA and FIFA, to work together in partnership to achieve the best results for the new league and football as a whole,” the association said in a statement.
why now?
There were talks in October, between Wall Street Bank JP Morgan, that ended New competition worth £ 4.6 billion That would replace the Champions League.
Uefa was hoping for his plans The new 36-team UEFA Champions League – With reforms slated to be confirmed on Monday – that would preclude the formation of the Premier League.
However, the 12 parties participating in the Premier League don’t think the reforms go far enough.
They said the global pandemic “has accelerated instability in the current economic model of European football.”
“In recent months, an intense dialogue has taken place with football stakeholders about the future shape of European competitions,” they added.
“The founding clubs believe that the solutions proposed after these talks do not solve the core issues, including the need to provide high-quality matches and additional financial resources for the football pyramid in general.”
What is the suggested shape?
The league will feature 20 teams – the 12 founding members plus the three unnamed clubs that they expect to join soon, and five teams that qualify annually based on their domestic achievements.
Under the proposals, the ESL campaign will start in August each year, with midweek matches, and the clubs will be divided into two groups of 10, each playing at home and abroad.
The top three in each group will advance to the quarter-finals, with fourth and fifth teams playing a playoff match back and forth on the remaining two spots.
Since then, it will have the same knockout format used in the Champions League before one final match in May in a neutral venue.
ESL said it would generate more money than the Champions League and lead to a greater revenue distribution throughout the match.
What do the leaders of the Premier League say?
Real Madrid president Florentino Perez, the first president of the tournament, said the new competition “will help football at all levels.”
“Football is the only global sport in the world with more than four billion fans, and our responsibility as big clubs is to respond to their desires,” he added.
Juventus President Andrea Agnelli resigned from the UEFA Executive Committee and president of the European Club Association (ECA), which pushed for the planned UEFA Champions League reforms.
He said that the 12 clubs “have come together at this crucial moment, enabling European competition to transform, and putting the game we love on a sustainable basis for the long-term future.”
Manchester United Co-President Joel Glazer will be the Vice President of the Premier League.
“By bringing together the world’s greatest clubs and players to play each other throughout the season, the Premier League will open a new chapter in European football, guarantee world-class competition and facilities, and increase financial support for the wider football pyramid,” he said.
What was the reaction?
Basically, widespread condemnation from anyone not involved in the proposed league.
Johnson said the plans would be “extremely harmful to football” and French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed French clubs’ refusal to join.
UEFA issued a joint statement with the English Football Association, the English Premier League, the Spanish Football Association, the Spanish League, the Italian Football Association, as well as the Italian Serie A, saying that they would “remain united” in trying to stop the split, using “all “. Available measures. “
The Egyptian Chefs Association said it was “strongly opposed” to the league, while the Football Fans Association said the plans “were only motivated by cynical greed.”
Among the former professionals, former Liverpool and Tottenham midfielder Danny Murphy told BBC Sport that the plans were “sound without soul”, former Manchester United captain Gary Neville told Sky Sports he was “completely disgusted”, while former teammate Rio Ferdinand said on BT Sport Sports said the proposals will hurt the fans the most.
‘High betrayal’
The fan groups associated with all six of the English clubs participating strongly oppose the Premier League.
The Spirit of Shankly Liverpool fan group said it was “appalled” by the decision of Fenway Sports Group, the club’s US-based owner.
“FSG has ignored fans in their relentless and greedy pursuit of money. Football is ours, not theirs. Our soccer club is ours, not theirs,” SOS said in a post on social media.
The Chelsea Supporters’ Association described the move as “unforgivable” and said its members and “football fans around the world have been totally betrayed”.
The Arsenal Supporters’ Association called on the club’s agreement to join “the death of Arsenal as a sports institution”.
The Manchester City official club said that the move showed that “the participants do not pay any attention to the traditions of the game,” adding that he was “determined to fight the proposed Premier League.”
The Manchester United Supporters’ Association had previously said that the proposals were “totally unacceptable” and that the Premier League “contradicts everything in football, and Manchester United must represent it.”
The Tottenham Hotspur Supporters Trust said that ESL was “a concept driven by greed and self-interest at the expense of the core values of the game we cherish so much.”
analyzing
Simon Stone from BBC Sport
If there was any doubt lingering about these 12 clubs’ desire to launch their own competitions, it was removed by their statement – which each of them reinforced through their own media platforms.
Many questions remain unanswered.
Mainly, can they really get past their plan due to strong resistance from UEFA and the respective country associations and federations?
But then, who will the other three clubs be to make up the fifteen founding members? Will Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain join in the end? How will the other five clubs be determined?
These are going to be great discussions. But right now, clubs that have joined the European Premier League are locked in a PR battle to change perceptions – because the initial reaction has been overwhelmingly negative.
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