Six English clubs have announced that they will unite with six European clubs to form a new midweek competitions, known as the Super League.
Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur have all announced in a joint statement that they will form half of the founding clubs in the new competition.
AC Milan, Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Inter Milan, Juventus and Real Madrid will also be part of the new Super League’s founding members and will all govern the competition, having reportedly quit the European Club Association to rule out any chance of returning to UEFA competitions.
It is expected that three more clubs will join ahead of the inaugural season which is set to be at start of 2022-23 season or ‘as soon as practicable’.
Explaining their decision to form the Super League, all 12 members in a joint statement said; ‘The formation of the Super League comes at a time when the global pandemic has accelerated the instability in the existing European football economic model.’
The statement went on to speak of their objective to improve quality and intensity of existing competitions, which involved creating this format to enable top clubs and players to compete on a regular basis.
All 12 teams also spoke of how the Coronavirus pandemic has forced the need for ‘strategic vision’ and ‘sustainable commercial approach’ in order to enhance the value of the European football pyramid yet provide higher quality matches than currently seen in UEFA competitions.
It has also been announced that a Women’s European Super League will follow once the men’s competition has been established, with the aim of ‘helping to advance and develop the women’s game.’
This announcement however comes just as UEFA prepare to unveil a new Champions League format containing 36 teams.
All 12 aforementioned clubs however are keen to hold discussions with UEFA and FIFA in order to work together to deliver what they describe as ‘the best outcomes for the new League and for football as a whole.’
Speaking as the Super League’s first chairman, Real Madrid President – Florentino Perez has vowed to help football at all levels and respond to needs of fans, saying; “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.”
Manchester United co-chairman, Joel Glazer will act as vice-chairman of this competition and has praised this announcement as one that “… will open a new chapter for European football, ensuring world-class competition and facilities and increased financial support for the wider football pyramid.”
Criticism however is raging throughout the football world with UEFA and Premier League amongst those to release statements opposing this new breakaway league, whilst UK Prime Minister – Boris Johnson has also spoken out against this project.
How will Super League Format Work?
The Super League will contain 20 clubs with 15 founding members automatically qualifying each season, whilst a further five clubs would have to qualify each season based on achievements in their previous campaign.
All games will be played in midweek with participating clubs able to continue in their respective domestic national leagues, in order to preserve the domestic match calendar which they state will remain ‘at the heart of the club game.’
Premier League, English FA, Royal Spanish Football Federation and Italian Federation however are against these plans, so are expected to ban their clubs from participating in domestic competitions.
The competition will start in August each season with clubs split into two groups of ten playing home and away with the top three from each group automatically qualifying for the knockouts.
Teams who finish fourth and fifth in each group would play each other in a two-legged play-off for the last two knockout berths, with the knockout stage following the same system as knockout rounds in current UEFA competitions across two legs until the semi-finals.
The final will be staged as a single fixture at a neutral venue at the end of May each season.
It is thought that the Super League ‘will provide significantly greater economic growth and support for European football via a long-term commitment to uncapped solidarity payments’ which are set to grow in line with revenues generated by the league.
Teams expect that these payments will be of ‘substantially higher’ value than currently generated by Champions League and Europa League, with an estimated value in excess of €10 billion across the initial commitment period of each club.
A spending framework will also be put in place with all founding members receiving €3.5bn to support their infrastructure investment plans and offset the impact of the pandemic on their finances.
FIFA Disapproves of Breakaway Project
FIFA responded to the announcement with a public statement in which it speaks of the need for ‘solidarity in football and an equitable redistribution’ in financial support to help football develop globally.
It is also expected that all football competitions across every level should reflect the following core principles;
- Solidarity
- Inclusivity
- Integrity
- Equitable financial redistribution
Governing bodies are also expected to employ all legal and sporting means to ensure this stays the case and in this instant, FIFA have expressed their disapproval of this competition which disrespects the aforementioned principles of the game.
FIFA however are calling on all parties to engage in discussions which they hope are ‘constructive’ and done for the good of football and in spirit of both solidarity plus fair play in order to find ‘a harmonised way forward for the overall interests of football.’
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