The initial plans of holding a breakaway European Super League had to be dumped after the organisers faced severe backlash from the fans of the involved football teams. The European Super League now seems to have got a lifeline, albeit in a different format. It is now being understood that the revamped composition of the tournament will comprise as many as 80 teams. The new version of the competition will be based on sporting performance only and no guaranteed membership will be offered to the clubs. It is believed that the newly proposed format of the European Super League would help the participants in generating more revenue. The teams are expected to feature in, at least, 14 matches per season against the other members in the new-look tournament.
Bernd Reichart, chief executive of A22 Sports, a company designed to sponsor and formulate plans for the new league, recently underlined the significance to have a separate European football competition.
“The foundations of European football are in danger of collapsing. It’s time for a change. It is the clubs that bear the entrepreneurial risk in football. But when important decisions are at stake, they are too often forced to sit idly by on the sidelines as the sporting and financial foundations crumble around them,” Bernd Reichart was quoted as saying by German publication Die Welt.
It is being learnt that nearly 50 European clubs have already been informed about the brand-new plan. Ten new principles for the much-talked-about project has also been laid out.
The football world faced a massive jolt two years back after it was announced that a separate football league, comprising elite European teams, will be formed soon. Twelve teams from Italy, Spain and England had originally mooted the idea in April 2021. It was initially decided that 20 teams will feature in the tournament. The 15 founding members were protected from relegation as well. However, the project crumbled within two days after fans and several former players forced the European giants to withdraw from the project. The six Premier League clubs had initially expressed their desire to pull out. The UEFA later conveyed in November last year that the whole of European football opposes the “greedy plan.”
The 12 founding clubs of the European Super League were – Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Inter Milan, AC Milan and Juventus.
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