A22 Sportsmanagent, the company that promotes the Super League, has drawn up a decalogue, published today by EL PAÍS together with other European newspapers, which sets out the bases on which it works to redefine its project.
The new Super League corrects some of the most controversial points of its initial approach and advocates a competition in which the best clubs from the major European leagues have a place and in which sporting merit prevails.
While waiting for the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) to issue a ruling in the coming weeks to decide whether UEFA and FIFA abuse their dominant position as organizers of international competitions, the Super League continues to work on the creation of a competition now already open and without permanent members.
Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus from Turin, the three clubs that are still actively leading the project, have contacted more than 50 European clubs and aspire to create a great league in which between 60 and 80 teams participate divided into divisions.
Meanwhile, the other nine founders (Atlético, Manchester City, United, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Tottenham, Inter and Milan) who publicly renounced to continue with the adventure, have not yet contractually separated from the project.
More information
Ten principles for a European football league, by Bernd Reichart
The promoting agency in charge of the project commissioned by the European Super League Company (ESL) aspires to create a new ecosystem in which the clubs themselves manage the European competitions.
The movement intends to emulate the one that in its day was carried out by the big professional leagues to exploit the national tournaments outside their respective federations.
In this case, the main entity taken out of the economic and governance equation would be UEFA, although independence would also include FIFA.
The Super League, which guarantees a minimum of 14 games to its participants (right now only the finalists play up to 13 games), aspires to a competition that will replace the current Champions League in practice.
To do this, it would create an entity to replace the current governing body of European football as the operator of the tournaments.
The background of the looming schism is not new.
For years, the clubs have been demanding a greater distribution of the income generated by international competitions, in addition to a greater participation in decision-making on their formats.
Before the Super League broke the deck and announced its birth on April 19, 2021, most of the big clubs in Europe wanted to increase their income by participating in UEFA competitions and a more attractive Champions League format.
Also that UEFA would pull only the Eurocups for the distribution of benefits among the European federations.
The argument for granting free rein to their demands is the same one that the Super League now exposes and champions.
Given the economic crisis that has football in check, the need arises, according to the ideologues of the project, for that economic and political self-management.
The Super League, which saw its first project fail due to the popular rejection emanating from the streets of England, has absorbed the reluctance generated by the state clubs in the fans and the condescension with which UEFA treated PSG when it broke the control rules economic.
He has also thrown down the gauntlet to historic clubs that have been left behind in the second or third car of European football due to their financial hardships.
Champions of the European Cup or the extinct UEFA Cup Winners' Cup and Cup have been surveyed and some of them recruited for the groundbreaking cause.
Faced with this order, UEFA had already reacted.
The format of the Champions League changed from the 2024-2025 season, in which it will go from 32 to 36 participants and from six to eight games in the first phase, four at home and four away, against different rivals.
A 50% shared partnership with the clubs already operates for the exploitation of the competitions.
The CJUE decision will be decisive for the aspirations of the Super League.
The previous report of the general lawyer of the EU, the Greek Athanasios Rantos, was favorable to the UEFA, to which it legitimized to organize and authorize the European competitions.
The magistrate's opinion does not have to be the same as the ruling that will be issued in the spring, but it usually coincides 80% of the time.
Without the backing of European justice, the power of convincing the Super League to attract clubs would be greatly diminished.
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