The
Premier League will meet on Tuesday without Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool,
Manchester City, Manchester United, and Tottenham who have agreed to join a
breakaway European Super League.
A virtual meeting, chaired by Premier League CEO Richard Masters, will be
attended by the 14 clubs who are not involved in the newly-announced League.
A statement on Sunday indicated that six Premier League clubs will be joined
in the League by AC Milan, Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Inter Milan,
Juventus, and Real Madrid. Three more clubs could join for the inaugural
season which will commence "as soon as practicable".
The new format has been put forward as a rival to the UEFA Champions League,
not as a replacement to domestic leagues, but there are fears it could have
wider ramifications.
UEFA, in a joint statement with FA, Premier League, La Liga, and Serie A,
blasted the plans and did not rule out taking legal action over the
proposals, insisting players involved would be banned from all other
competitions at domestic, European or world level and could be prevented
from representing their national teams.
Aleksander Ceferin, the president of European football's governing body, has
slammed the ESL concept and the 12 sides involved, strongly condemning the
"disgraceful" proposals for a new European Super League as a "spit in the
face of all football lovers".
FIFA and the European Club Association (ECA) have also criticised the
creation of a breakaway competition.
A statement from the European Super League read: "Twelve of Europe's leading
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 anticipated that a further three clubs will join ahead
of the inaugural season, which is intended to commence as soon as
practicable.
"Going forward, the Founding Clubs look forward to holding discussions with
UEFA and FIFA to work together in partnership to deliver the best outcomes
for the new League and for football as a whole.
"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.
"Further, for a number of years, the Founding Clubs have had the objective
of improving the quality and intensity of existing European competitions
throughout each season, and of creating a format for top clubs and players
to compete on a regular basis.
"The pandemic has shown that a strategic vision and a sustainable commercial
approach are required to enhance value and support for the benefit of the
entire European football pyramid.
"In recent months extensive dialogue has taken place with football
stakeholders regarding the future format of European competitions. The
Founding Clubs believe the solutions proposed following these talks do not
solve fundamental issues, including the need to provide higher quality
matches and additional financial resources for the overall football
pyramid."
American investment bank JP Morgan has announced it will be financing the
competition.
All six Premier League clubs have declined Sky Sports News' invitation to
respond to the story.
Manchester United have stood down from the European Club Association (ECA),
which represents all 246 European clubs. It is the sole such body recognised
by UEFA, and has member clubs in each UEFA member association.
United's executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward has also stepped down from his
UEFA roles. Serie A clubs Juventus, AC Milan and Inter Milan have also left
the ECA.
Juventus chairman Andrea Agnelli has also resigned as ECA chairman, a
position he held since 2012, and left his post as member of the UEFA
Executive Committee to take up the Super League vice-president role.
Bayern Munich chief executive Karl-Heinz Rummenigge says they have had no
involvement in the plans and believes the competition would not solve the
clubs' financial problems.
He said in a statement on Monday: "We are convinced that the current
structure in football guarantees a reliable foundation.
"FC Bayern welcomes the reforms of the Champions League because we believe
they are the right step to take for the development of European football.
The modified group stage will contribute to an increase in excitement and
the emotional experience in the competition.
"I do not believe the Super League will solve the financial problems of
European clubs that have arisen as result of the coronavirus pandemic.
Rather, all clubs in Europe should work in solidarity to ensure that the
cost structure, especially players' salaries and agents' fees, are brought
in line with revenues, to make all of European football more rational."
Borussia Dortmund chief executive, Hans-Joachim Watzke, says they vehemently
reject all involvement in the plans for a breakaway league and are instead
focused on reforming the Champions League.
The German Football Association backed the stance held by the national
associations from England, Italy and Spain.
Competition Format
20 participating clubs with 15 Founding Clubs and a qualifying mechanism for
a further five teams to qualify annually based on achievements in the prior
season.
Midweek fixtures with all participating clubs continuing to compete in their
respective national leagues, preserving the traditional domestic match
calendar which remains at the heart of the club game.
An August start with clubs participating in two groups of ten, playing home
and away fixtures, with the top three in each group automatically qualifying
for the quarter-finals.
Teams finishing fourth and fifth will then compete in a two-legged play-off
for the remaining quarter-final positions. A two-leg knockout format will be
used to reach the final at the end of May, which will be staged as a single
fixture at a neutral venue.
"As soon as practicable after the start of the men's competition, a
corresponding women's league will also be launched, helping to advance and
develop the women's game.
"The new annual tournament will provide significantly greater economic
growth and support for European football via a long-term commitment to
uncapped solidarity payments which will grow in line with league revenues.
"These solidarity payments will be substantially higher than those generated
by the current European competition and are expected to be in excess of €10
billion during the course of the initial commitment period of the Clubs. In
addition, the competition will be built on a sustainable financial
foundation with all Founding Clubs signing up to a spending framework.
"In exchange for their commitment, Founding Clubs will receive an amount of
€3.5 billion solely to support their infrastructure investment plans and to
offset the impact of the COVID pandemic."
European Super League - Financial details
Founding Clubs have signed a 23-year commitment to the new Super League
Legal advice to clubs is that it would be a breach of EU and UK competition
law to deny a new entrant into the market
Clubs believe signing off at least €10BN in Solidarity Payments demonstrates
their commitment to the wider game
Solidarity figure is higher than current distribution from UEFA and will
equate to approximately 8% of their proposed revenue
Share of €3.5BN for each Founding Club cannot be spent on new signings and
must only be used to support infrastructure plans and offset COVID-19 impact
Florentino Perez, president of Real Madrid and the first chairman of the
Super League said: "We will help football at every level and take it to its
rightful place in the world. 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."
Backing the new European league, Agnelli, chairman of Juventus and
vice-chairman of the Super League said: "Our 12 Founder Clubs represent
billions of fans across the globe and 99 European trophies.
"We have come together at this critical moment, enabling European
competition to be transformed, putting the game we love on a sustainable
footing for the long-term future, substantially increasing solidarity, and
giving fans and amateur players a regular flow of headline fixtures that
will feed their passion for the game while providing them with engaging role
models."
Joel Glazer, co-chairman of Manchester United and vice-chairman of the Super
League said: "By bringing together the world's greatest clubs and players to
play each other throughout the season, the Super League will open a new
chapter for European football, ensuring world-class competition and
facilities, and increased financial support for the wider football pyramid."
The agreement came on the eve of plans to introduce a new programme for the
Champions League.
UEFA has announced a new format for the competition post-2024, which
includes no more groups and all teams in one ranking. Every team will play
10 different opponents, home and away.
European football's governing body have also delayed making an announcement
on host cities for Euro 2020 until Friday, in the wake of the fallout caused
by the ESL statement that was released on Sunday.
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