FIFA warns that it would not recognize the Super League promoted by some European clubs

Karim Benzema heads to goal in the Champions League match against Borussia Moenchengladbach.PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU / AFP

Neither FIFA nor the different confederations that run world football would recognize the Super League competition, that sort of elite league that the best and most powerful European clubs would play, which are precisely those behind the project.

This is what FIFA warns in a statement signed by the six confederations.

And "in view of the recent media speculation" about the creation of that Super League.

But the note goes further, as it warns that the players of those clubs could even be excluded from the calls of their respective teams.

As the statement says: “Any club or player involved in such a competition, as a consequence, would not be allowed to participate in any competition organized by FIFA or its corresponding confederation.

According to the statutes of FIFA and the confederations, all competitions must be organized or recognized by the competent body at their corresponding level;

in other words, by FIFA at the world level and by the confederations at the continental level ”.

UEFA's hostility to a European Super League has been known for a long time, due to the threat it poses to its Champions League, but FIFA had not opposed so head-on until it spoke out on Thursday.

“The confederations recognize the FIFA Club World Cup, in its current and new format, as the only global club competition, while FIFA recognizes the club competitions organized by the confederations as the only continental club competitions. ”, Continues the note.

And he adds: “The universal principles of sporting merit, solidarity, promotion and relegation, and subsidiarity are the base of the football pyramid that guarantees the global success of football and, therefore, are enshrined in the statutes of FIFA and the confederations.

Soccer has a long and successful history thanks to these principles ”.

This harsh and clear message for the European clubs that intend to promote the Euroleague, including Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, ​​is signed by the president of FIFA, Gianni Infantino, and those of the six confederations: Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, President of the AFC;

Constant Omari, Acting President of the CAF;

Vittorio Montagliani, President of the Concacaf;

Alejandro Domínguez, President of Conmebol;

Lambert Maltock, President of the OFC, as well as Aleksander Ceferin, President of UEFA.