European Super League announced; collapses

[stokeriño]

Kill it with fire.

[METALMAN]

I think I am now in favour of European Super League

[Twist]

What I don’t get is that this basically sounds like the new structure they are introducing for the champions league just with more games (and I assume more ‘big’ match ups)?

The big teams pushing for it are lock every year for the UCL, so I assume they’re just not happy with their share of UCL money?

[Hobo]

I think instead of super leagues we should just go back to all European competitions being strictly knock out from the start.

Also they should have no qualifying rounds and no seeding. Just chaos. Anyone can face anyone. Everyone starts in the first round. Think of the matches!

 

 

[stokeriño]

3 hours ago, Twist said:

What I don’t get is that this basically sounds like the new structure they are introducing for the champions league just with more games (and I assume more ‘big’ match ups)?

The big teams pushing for it are lock every year for the UCL, so I assume they’re just not happy with their share of UCL money?

The proposed structure is not the end goal. They're trying to get a foot in the door so that once this league of theirs is 'normal', they can push closer and closer towards their desired model.

[TEOL]

6 hours ago, Lineker said:

Oh shit this might go somewhere if it's got Littlefinger behind it

[Baddar]

It appears this might be happening after all...

[Lineker]

10 minutes ago, Baddar said:

It appears this might be happening after all...

 

Quote

Banning clubs from joining a European Super League was unlawful and Uefa and Fifa are "abusing a dominant position", the European Court of Justice has said.

It comes after a case was brought by the ESL and its backers claiming Uefa and Fifa were breaking competition law by threatening to sanction those who joined the breakaway league.

Europe's highest court found against the governing bodies.

It added that did not mean a breakaway league would "necessarily be approved".

On a hugely significant day for European football:

• Uefa said it was "confident in the robustness" of rules
• ESL backers A22 released revamped proposals
• Real Madrid said clubs were "masters of their own destiny"
• La Liga referred to the ESL as a "selfish and elitist model"

An initial report released last December by the ECJ said the rules of football's European and world governing bodies were "compatible with EU competition law".

The verdict will be seen as a blow to the authority of Uefa and Fifa and how they govern the game.

Uefa said it was "confident in the robustness" of rules it has brought in since the ESL was first proposed, and that it would "comply with all relevant European laws and regulations".

It added it trusted football's existing set-up would be "safeguarded against the threat of breakaways by European and national laws".

Barcelona - one of the initial 12 clubs to agree to the ESL - said the verdict "paved the way for a new competition".

And ESL backers A22 then released revamped proposals, which this time include a women's European tournament.

The plan would feature a league system with 64 clubs across three leagues in the men's competition, and 32 clubs across two leagues in the women's competition. Both would involve promotion and relegation.

The ESL had initially been intended to be a midweek competition consisting of two groups of 10 teams, followed by a play-off phase.

Anger grew when details emerged that the 12 founding clubs would never have to forfeit their places in the league, locking out all but five other clubs across the whole of Europe in the process, once another three founding clubs had been confirmed.

Fans protested that the ESL would be detrimental to leagues across Europe and that greed was the driving factor for clubs joining, with no consideration for supporters.

The report said that when new competitions are "potentially entering the market" Fifa and Uefa must ensure their powers are "transparent, objective, non-discriminatory and proportionate".

The report added: "However, the powers of Fifa and Uefa are not subject to any such criteria. Fifa and Uefa are, therefore, abusing a dominant position.

"Moreover, given their arbitrary nature, their rules on approval, control and sanctions must be held to be unjustified restrictions on the freedom to provide services.

"That does not mean that a competition such as the Super League project must necessarily be approved. The Court does not rule on that specific project in its judgment."

Bernd Reichart, chief executive of A22, wrote on X - formerly Twitter - that the ESL "have won the right to exist".

He added: "Uefa's monopoly is over. Football is free. Clubs are now free from the threat of sanctions and free to determine their own future.

"For fans: we offer free broadcasting of all Superleague matches. For clubs: Income and solidarity expenses will be guaranteed."

The ESL saga began in April 2021 when news broke that 12 teams - including English teams Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham - had signed up to the breakaway competition.

There was widespread fury and condemnation from fans, other European leagues and even government, leading to the collapse of the plans within 72 hours.

The six Premier League clubs plus Atletico Madrid, Inter Milan and AC Milan were fined by Uefa, but action against Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus was halted during the legal process, although Juventus signalled their intention to quit the project in July.

The ESL has not been scrapped completely, however, with Real Madrid and Barcelona remaining interested in pursuing the venture.

Real welcomed the ruling, saying clubs will now be the "masters of their own destiny".

"It is a great day for the history of football and for the history of sports," a statement added.

Meanwhile, Spain's La Liga said European football had "spoken".

The statement said: "Today, more than ever, we reiterate that the "Super League" is a selfish and elitist model.

"Anything that is not fully open, with direct access only through the domestic leagues, season by season, is a closed format."

 

Quote

The company who backed the European Super League, A22, has launched a new proposal for men's and women's European competitions.

The proposal is a league system with 64 men's clubs across three leagues with participation based on sporting merit and no permanent members.

The women's competition would include 32 clubs across two leagues.

It comes after the European Court of Justice said banning clubs from joining a European Super League was unlawful.

A case was brought by the ESL and its backers claiming Uefa and Fifa were breaking competition law by threatening to sanction those who joined the breakaway league.

Europe's highest court found against the governing bodies but said that did not mean a breakaway league would "necessarily be approved".

But the ruling has opened the door for new proposals to be put forward and for clubs to look to organise and manage European football competitions.

No clubs or prize money have yet been announced in the A22 proposal but an annual promotion and relegation system would be in place.

In the men's competition, the top tiers - the Star League and the Gold League - would each consist of 16 teams while the Blue League, the bottom tier, would consist of 32 clubs.

Fans would also be able to watch live matches for free on a new digital streaming platform.

 

[gunnar hendershow]

Wow they straight up stole the league names from Tony Khan.

[METALMAN]

Wow. It will really be a devastating day for the “real fans” when their teams leave a cartel that is run overwhelmingly in the interest of the biggest clubs for another cartel that is run overwhelmingly in the interest of the biggest clubs.

[Colly]

I still think it has no chance, the backlash in this country will prevent any PL clubs joining.

I don't really understand the maths either, the "Star" league (Mario Kart) is essentially the CL last 16 clubs, playing fewer games overall than the 32 CL clubs would have, so while they're cutting out a few "minnows" like AC Milan or Man Utd how do they make more money with fewer games?

[stokeriño]

Calling the bottom tier the 'Blue' league is just rude, frankly.

[Hobo]

A22? I would rather see a A24 have a go.

 

[Adam]

I can't be arsed with any of it. Metalman has nailed it really.

Any ESL that does come about surely won't look much different from the new Champions League format anyway. It's all bollocks made by and serving the interests of the monied few at the top.

The fans and the players, surely the most crucial element of football at any level, are not considered or consulted on any of it.

[The Lusophone]

This won't happen, regardless of any merits the proposal might have. British clubs will be barred from joining by law. German clubs (and indeed, the biggest have already come out and rejected it) will reject it for cultural reasons. Juventus are in chaos behind the scenes and can't do anything to support this. Atletico have rejected it.

The teams that would make up you lower top tier/upper second tier are coming out and rejecting it - Marseille, Roma, the newly minted Girona, Real Sociedad, AS Monaco, Feyenoord. Even Manchester United have come out against it.

The business model is an immediate failure too - an ad-support free streaming platform with none of the venture capital that the first proposal had backing it? Ok what happens after the first round of fixtures and you find out the number of people watching it is tens of millions of viewers lower than you were expecting? It's a model that just doesn't work.

[Bobfoc]

5 minutes ago, FestiveJack said:

The business model is an immediate failure too - an ad-support free streaming platform with none of the venture capital that the first proposal had backing it? Ok what happens after the first round of fixtures and you find out the number of people watching it is tens of millions of viewers lower than you were expecting? It's a model that just doesn't work.

My guess is that they're hoping a couple of years of free viewing will gain a big enough fanbase that will fork out big subscription fees eventually. Of course, those already paying a mountain of cash for Sky and TNT probably aren't going to be happy about another paywalled football broadcaster, so it's wishful thinking.

[Lineker]

Lots of similar statements coming out from all the other original teams.

[METALMAN]

Amazing how all these teams that signed up for it in the first place are so dead against the idea.

[King Ellis]

I think Liniker should update the title of this thread, if only to see how far down the chain we can go.

European Super League announced; collapses, revived, collapses again...

[LL!]

 

41 minutes ago, King Ellis said:

I think Liniker should update the title of this thread, if only to see how far down the chain we can go.

European Super League announced; collapses, revived, collapses again...

The latest should be "Revived?"