Twelve of football’s most powerful clubs confronted allegations of insatiability and pessimism on Monday as they reported a breakaway European Super League that could have sweeping ramifications for the game.
Six Premier League teams – Liverpool, Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City, and Tottenham – are included, alongside Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Juventus, Inter Milan, and AC Milan.
The clubs, most of them burdened with debt and huge compensation bills and hit hard by the pandemic, remain to profit monetarily, with forecasts that they will share billions of euros.
They made their reaction known in a statement announced on Monday.
The statement read, “Twelve of Europe’s driving football clubs have today come together to announce they have agreed to establish a new mid-week competition, the Super League, governed by its Founding Clubs.
“AC Milan, Arsenal FC, Atlético de Madrid, Chelsea FC, FC Barcelona, FC Internazionale Milano, Juventus FC, Liverpool FC, Manchester City, Manchester United, Real Madrid CF and Tottenham Hotspur have all joined as Founding Clubs. It is expected that a further three clubs will join ahead of the inaugural season, which is planned to initiate when practicable.
“Going ahead, the Founding Clubs anticipate having conversations with UEFA and FIFA to cooperate in association to convey the best results for the new League and for football overall.
“The formation of the Super League comes when the worldwide pandemic has sped up the instability in the existing European football economic model.
“Further, for a number of years, the Founding Clubs have had the target of improving the quality and intensity of existing European rivalries all through each season, and of creating a format for top clubs and players to contend consistently.
“The pandemic has shown that an essential vision and a maintainable commercial approach are needed to upgrade worth and support to serve the whole European football pyramid.
“Lately extensive dialogue has occurred with football stakeholders in regards to the future format of European rivalries. The Founding Clubs accept the solutions proposed following these discussions don’t tackle basic issues, including the need to give more excellent matches and extra financial resources for the general football pyramid.”
