Super League news LIVE – anger and derision as new plans for football breakaway revealed
The controversial competition has been revived by organisers with 60-80 teams involved in mutiple divisions, but there is fresh backlash over the proposals
Plans for the European Super League have been relaunched with a new multi-divisional format in an effort to revive the thwarted competition.
The ESL was crushed by a fierce backlash across football when it was first mooted in April 2021 by its founding clubs, forcing embarrassing climbdowns from those involved, and it was eventually shut down in court. But the organisation set up to devise and promote the competition, A22, has now released new plans for a Super League based on “merit” rather than ringfenced financial gains for a few founding members.
The new-look competition would feature 60-80 teams across multiple divisions with promotion and relegation, rather than one league. The competition would be based on sporting performance only, with no permanent members, A22 chief executive Bernd Reichart said in a presentation at a London hotel on Thursday morning, and teams would be guaranteed a minimum of 14 matches per season.
But there is fresh backlash from clubs, leagues and fans over the proposals, with Spanish La Liga president Javier Tebas describing the ESL as “the wolf disguised as the grandmother”, while the Football Supporters’ Association described the plans as “hot air”.
Follow all the latest news and reaction as the Super League relaunches its plans.
Controversial European Super League relaunches with new multi-division plan
A new-look, open European Super League could contain up to 80 teams in a multi-divisional format, the competition’s chief executive has said.
The competition would be based on sporting performance only with no permanent members, A22 chief executive Bernd Reichart told German newspaper Die Welt.
Teams would be guaranteed a minimum of 14 matches per season, Reichart wrote.
A22, a company formed to sponsor and assist with the creation of the Super League, has consulted with nearly 50 European clubs since October last year and developed 10 principles based on that consultation which underpin its plans for a new-look league.
Full details here:
European Super League relaunches with new multi-division plan
The competition would be based solely on sporting merit, according to the competition’s chief executive
Football’s most divisive project is back with a bang
Many in English football rolled their eyes at the latest European Super League announcement on Thursday morning, but some of that should be from familiarity.
While project backers A22 made great play of outlining their 10 principles, it is one core idea that matters most. The Super League in its current form is an attempt to create a Premier League-style competition that supplants the Champions League.
What that means is an event entirely run by its shareholders, who would be the clubs involved, and the governing body – in this case Uefa – effectively relegated to a purely administration role underneath in the manner of the Football Association. The Champions League itself could meanwhile become an equivalent to the EFL.
Miguel Delaney reflects on the day football’s most divisive project made its controversial return:
Football’s most divisive project is back with a bang
The ESL has returned with a vengeance as it looks to shake up European football
ECA criticise Super League plans as ‘already rejected'
The European Club Association - which represents the interests of teams under UEFA jurisdiction - called the latest update “a rehashed idea already proposed, discussed and comprehensively rejected by all stakeholders”.
A statement read: “This is just another deliberately distorted and misleading attempt to destabilise the constructive work currently taking place between football’s real stakeholders to move things forward in the overall best interests of the European club game.
“We have moved on, when will A22?”
La Liga president criticises the return of the Super League
LaLiga president Javier Tebas dismissed the plans in a typically colourful tweet.
“The Super League is the wolf, who today disguises himself as a granny to try to fool European football,” he posted on the social media site.
“But HIS nose and HIS teeth are very big. Four divisions in Europe? Of course the first for them (the big clubs), as in the 2019 reform.
“Government of the clubs? Of course only the big ones.”
‘The wolf disguised as the grandmother’: Tebas derides Super League relaunch
A new proposal for the European Super League has been launched but the chief of LaLiga insists it remains a power grab
A22 Sports insists it has clubs’ backing
When might the competition start?
How would teams be selected for the inaugural competition?
How would teams would qualify for, and be eliminated from, the competition in subsequent years?
How many seasons might teams in the top tier of the new competition expect to be guaranteed European football for, before having to rely on domestic performance to qualify again, and what would be the impact of all this on domestic leagues?
PA understands A22 plans to develop such detail in further dialogue with clubs, and aims to present it after the final court rulings.
There are also no clear plans yet for how the competition will be governed, other than that it should be governed by the clubs, and plans related to the ratio of prize money between teams in the top division compared to the bottom one are still being developed.
PA understands there has been no official consultation yet between A22 and potential broadcasters, but A22 is understood to be confident it could secure start-up investment for its competition even in economic conditions which are much tougher than they were in 2021.
A22 Sports insists it has clubs’ backing
A22, the organisation behind the ESL’s revival, says it has consulted with nearly 50 European clubs to develop 10 principles which underpin its new plans for the competition.
However, it has not disclosed the names of any of those clubs, with A22 chief executive Bernd Reichart saying it is clear “clubs are often unable to publicly speak up against a system where the threat of sanctions is used to stifle opposition”.
A22 has challenged UEFA and FIFA’s right to block the formation of their competition and to sanction the 12 clubs involved in the original Super League in the European courts. It argues those governing bodies abused a dominant position under EU law by acting as they did.
A final judgement in the case is expected from the European Court of Justice later this year, but a non-binding opinion published in December by the Advocate General in the case said Uefa and Fifa rules allowing them to block new competitions were compatible with EU law.
The new proposals issued on Thursday talked about a guarantee of a minimum 14 matches per season for the clubs involved, strict cost controls linked to revenue and a pledge to put the women’s game “at the centre” of its plans.
However, there remain lots of unanswered questions.
Football Supporters’ Association condemns latest Super League plans
Revamped plans for a European Super League have been likened to the “twitching of a corpse” by a fans’ group.
A22, the company formed to assist in the creation of the original Super League project in 2021, unveiled plans on Thursday for a new competition played across multiple divisions and involving up to 80 teams.
A22 said the competition would be open, and that there would be no permanent members, in contrast to the 2021 version which collapsed within 72 hours of launch amid fan protests and opposition from Uefa, Fifa and even the British Government.
The new plans were dismissed by Kevin Miles, the chief executive of the Football Supporters’ Association, who said: “The walking corpse that is the European Super League twitches again with all the self-awareness one associates with a zombie.
“Their newest idea is to have an ‘open competition’ rather than the closed shop they originally proposed that led to huge fan protests.
“Of course an open competition for Europe’s top clubs already exists - it’s called the Champions League.
“They say ‘dialogue with fans and independent fan groups is essential’ yet the European Zombie League marches on - wilfully ignorant to the contempt supporters across the continent have for it.”
WATCH: European Super League sponsor explains thinking behind new-look proposals
Here’s what the European Super League are saying about their new venture
European Super League relaunch: What we know so far
In news that will undoubtedly annoy and worry football fans across the continent, the prospect of a European Super League has once again reared its ugly head, as the biggest clubs in the sport seem determined to force through this widely reviled idea.
After being sent packing by a rare moment of unity, albeit in the form of a burning rage, from football supporters back in 2021, the ESL is desperate to tell you why it’s different this time.
Up to 80 teams, multiple divisions and a guarantee of 14 matches per season, Bernd Reichart, the chief executive of A22, in charge of promoting the ESL, has detailed the framework of a more palatable league to German newspaper Die Welt.
But will it happen this time? Here’s what we know so far about the revived European Super League:
European Super League relaunch: What we know so far
The propsect of a European Super League has been revived as the continent’s richest clubs seem determined to push a proposal through in the face of fan backlash
Comment: European Super League revamp just the latest slap in the face to football fans
It’s back. After being sent packing by a burning rage from football supporters in 2021, the European Super League is desperate to tell you why it’s different this time.
The message was evidently not clear enough before, so the latest murmurings bring a fresh slap to the face to fans now routinely ignored by the powers that be.
Up to 80 teams, multiple divisions and a guarantee of 14 matches per season, Bernd Reichart, the chief executive of A22, in charge of promoting the ESL, has detailed the framework of a more palatable league to German newspaper Die Welt.
There is the peculiar assumption that the ESL can save the foundations of European football, which Reichart maintains are “in danger of collapsing.”
Jack Rathborn gives his take on today’s big news:
Super League revamp just the latest slap in the face to football fans
A revamped ESL is in the works with a multi-division format and 14 games guaranteed
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments