Super League news LIVE – anger and derision as new plans for football breakaway revealed
The controversial competition has been revived by organisers with 60-80 teams involved in mutiple divisions, but there is fresh backlash over the proposals
Plans for the European Super League have been relaunched with a new multi-divisional format in an effort to revive the thwarted competition.
The ESL was crushed by a fierce backlash across football when it was first mooted in April 2021 by its founding clubs, forcing embarrassing climbdowns from those involved, and it was eventually shut down in court. But the organisation set up to devise and promote the competition, A22, has now released new plans for a Super League based on “merit” rather than ringfenced financial gains for a few founding members.
The new-look competition would feature 60-80 teams across multiple divisions with promotion and relegation, rather than one league. The competition would be based on sporting performance only, with no permanent members, A22 chief executive Bernd Reichart said in a presentation at a London hotel on Thursday morning, and teams would be guaranteed a minimum of 14 matches per season.
But there is fresh backlash from clubs, leagues and fans over the proposals, with Spanish La Liga president Javier Tebas describing the ESL as “the wolf disguised as the grandmother”, while the Football Supporters’ Association described the plans as “hot air”.
Follow all the latest news and reaction as the Super League relaunches its plans.
Barcelona president feels Super League could start by 2025
Barcelona president Joan Laporta remains bullish about the prospects of the Super League and feels it could be in action within the next two years.
“This Spring we’ll have the verdict on the Super League. For clubs, it will be like what the Bosman ruling [which allowed footballers to move on a free transfer at the end of their contracts] meant for players,” Laporta told Cadena SER radio last month.
“If the decision is favourable, the Super League could be a reality by 2025. If it isn’t, the steps we decide to take will depend on what the verdict says. The degree of the victory will dictate what we can do with the Super League.”
Summary: Super League attempts revival with ambitious 60-80 team competition
A22 said there were 10 principles that emerged from the discussions, including improving competitiveness, financial sustainability and fan experience.
At issue in the ongoing court case is whether European body UEFA and global governing body FIFA statutes allowing them to block rival events and bar clubs and players from taking part conform with EU competition rules.
Summary: Super League attempts revival with ambitious 60-80 team competition
The Football Supporters’ Association, which represents fans in England and Wales and is a co-founder of Europe’s equivalent fan body, said the ESL plan did not have any backing from the continent’s fans.
“The walking corpse that is the European Super League twitches again with all the self-awareness one associates with a zombie,” said FSA chief executive Kevin Miles in a statement.
“Their newest idea is to have an ‘open competition’ rather than the closed shop they originally proposed that led to huge fan protests. Of course an open competition for Europe’s top clubs already exists - it’s called the Champions League.”
New expanded Super League plans dismissed as ‘twitching of the corpse’
Exclusive: The ESL is attempting a revival following the collapse of its controversial first launch but the Football Supporters’ Association insists there is little appetite for change among fans
Summary: Super League attempts revival with ambitious 60-80 team competition
Spain’s La Liga President Javier Tebas, a staunch opponent of the ESL, said the plan would only favour big clubs.
“The Super League is the wolf, who today disguises himself as a granny to try to fool European football, but his nose and his teeth are very big,” Tebas wrote on Twitter on Thursday.
“Four divisions in Europe? Of course the first for them, as in the 2019 reform. Government of the clubs? Of course only the big ones.”
‘The wolf disguised as the grandmother’: Tebas derides Super League relaunch
A new proposal for the European Super League has been launched but the chief of LaLiga insists it remains a power grab
Summary: Super League attempts revival with ambitious 60-80 team competition
A future European Super League could include as many as 80 teams, Bernd Reichart, the chief executive of A22 Sports Management, a company formed to sponsor and assist in the creation of a breakaway soccer league, said on Thursday.
In a statement outlining the preliminary results of talks that A22 had with what it said was 50 European clubs and stakeholders of football, the company said change was necessary.
“The vast majority of them share the assessment that the very foundation of European football is under threat, and it is time for change,” A22 said.
“Feedback suggests a European football league that is open, based solely on sporting merit, multidivisional with 60 to 80 clubs and a minimum of 14 guaranteed European matches per club.”
Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus were among 12 clubs to announce a breakaway Super League in April 2021. But the move collapsed within 48 hours after an outcry from fans, governments and players forced Manchester United, Liverpool, Manchester City, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal, AC Milan, Inter Milan and Atletico Madrid to pull out.
That left only Real, Barcelona and Juventus as holdouts. The ESL took its case to a Spanish court which subsequently sought guidance from the Luxembourg-based Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).
“Our objective is to present a sustainable sporting project for European club competitions available to, at a minimum, all 27 EU Member States as soon as possible after receipt of the judgment,” Reichart said.
“The issues are clear, and action must be taken for the benefit of fans, players, and clubs.”
FSA label Super League plans “wilfully ignorant” towards fans
“The walking corpse twitches again with all the self-awareness...[of] a zombie”.
The FSA pulling no punches with their statement on the revived Super League.
They call the new proposals “wilfully ignorant to the contempt supporters across the continent have for it”.
European Super League latest
Plenty of comment and, shall we say, derision, over the expanded leagues idea - almost as if a ‘best of Europe’ structure with different tiers already exists.
The lack of detail on offer from the manifesto is also cause for criticism.
‘Twitching of the corpse’: New expanded Super League plans criticised
Grand new plans for a revived European Super League have been dismissed as “the twitching of the corpse” by the chief executive of the Football Supporters’ Association (FSA).
The organisation charged with devising and promoting the Super League, A22, has launched its radical new proposals, centring around plans for a 60-80 club competition across multiple divisions, which would operate in conjunction with existing national leagues such as the Premier League as well as Uefa competitions like the Champions League.
A22’s CEO, Bernd Reichart, presented his vision to the media at a London hotel on Thursday morning. Reichart claims to have involved nearly 50 European clubs and stakeholders in the discussions. But the feeling across the game remains deeply sceptical and the FSA says it was not directly consulted on the latest plans.
“It’s not going to happen,” the FSA’s chief executive, Kevin Miles, told The Independent. “This latest plan is just their way of reminding the world that they exist, they are still here. But it’s all hot air.”
Exclusive quotes from the FSA here:
‘Twitching of the corpse’: New expanded Super League plans criticised
Exclusive: The ESL is attempting a revival following the collapse of its controversial first launch but the Football Supporters’ Association insists there is little appetite for change among fans
Liverpool stand by anti-Super League stance
Sources at Liverpool have told the Liverpool Echo that their stance on the Super League remains unchanged from their September 2021 statement, when the club said: “Our involvement in the proposed ESL plans has been discontinued. We are absolutely committed to following that through and there should be no ambiguity to suggest otherwise.”
The organiser of the new Super League plans, A22, has yet to reveal which clubs, if any, back the proposals.
Super League relaunch: 10 principles
There remains a startling lack of detail available over the Super League’s newly scrubbed reform plan, which features a list of 10 principles to govern their approach.
They say they have been formed after “consistent feedback” with clubs, though opted against saying which ones.
The 10 guiding princples are listed as:
- Meritocratic competitions, with multi-divisional format and no permanent members
- Clubs remain committed to domestic tournaments
- Improve competitiveness with stable, sustainable resources
- Player health at the centre of the game
- Well-enforced and transparent financial sustainability rules
- Create “the world’s best football competition”
- Improved fan experience
- Develop and finance women’s football by putting it “centre stage” side-by-side with men’s game
- Significant increase in solidarity
- Respect for EU laws and values
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