European Super Football League, a reality or a failed idea?

[Daniel91]

UEFA has just issued a shocking official statement:
''UEFA, the English Football Association and the Premier League, the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) and LaLiga, and the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) and Lega Serie A have learned that a few English, Spanish and Italian clubs may be planning to announce their creation of a closed, so-called Super League.

If this were to happen, we wish to reiterate that we – UEFA, the English FA, RFEF, FIGC, the Premier League, LaLiga, Lega Serie A, but also FIFA and all our member associations – will remain united in our efforts to stop this cynical project, a project that is founded on the self-interest of a few clubs at a time when society needs solidarity more than ever.

We will consider all measures available to us, at all levels, both judicial and sporting in order to prevent this happening. Football is based on open competitions and sporting merit; it cannot be any other way.

As previously announced by FIFA and the six Federations, the clubs concerned will be banned from playing in any other competition at domestic, European or world level, and their players could be denied the opportunity to represent their national teams.

We thank those clubs in other countries, especially the French and German clubs, who have refused to sign up to this. We call on all lovers of football, supporters and politicians, to join us in fighting against such a project if it were to be announced. This persistent self-interest of a few has been going on for too long. Enough is enough.''

Source: https://www.uefa.com/insideuefa/mediaservices/mediareleases/news/0268-12121411400e-7897186e699a-1000--statement-by-uefa-english-fa-rfef-figc-premier-league-laliga-le/

According to the Croatian online portal Index, which convey the report from journalist Mohamed Bouhafsi, RMC Sport, the following clubs plan to create a closed European football league:
Manchester United, Liverpool, Manchester City, Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Inter, Milan and Juventus.

If this idea of a European football league comes true, then Europe will be divided into big and small clubs and countries, and UEFA will completely lose all influence and huge profits from football competitions.
Only the 12 richest clubs in the world will be able to compete for the title of European champion, and Paris SG and Bayern will probably join this league.
Fair sports competition and equal opportunity for all? Forget it, everything will turn into a business.
Small clubs simply will not get a chance to fight for the title of European champion because big clubs don't want small clubs to bother them and take away their profits.

And all this even though UEFA was considering a compromise, to create a league of 32 clubs in which the biggest clubs would always have their reserved place.
This is a really sad idea, which will destroy European club football, what do you think?

Source: https://www.index.hr/sport/clanak/uefa-zestoko-odgovorila-klubovima-koji-stvaraju-superligu-kazne-ce-biti-drasticne/2269717.aspx

https://www.index.hr/sport/clanak/uefa-danas-predstavlja-revoluciju-u-ligi-prvaka-ovo-su-detalji/2253089.aspx

[fiulpro]

This is honestly something that is going to fail since:
1. Players won't be able to compete on a bigger level
2. The small clubs will be banned and therefore there will always be a problem
3. The players would be shunned and that does mean that they will themselves stride away
4. This is honestly something purely political which might work locally but Won't have any more opportunities.
5. There is always a problem with management of such bodies , so how will it go ?

I do think whosoever got this idea was indeed not thinking about the big picture. Why in the first place ? There are already numerous possibilities, there are selection commissions and players already have to go though local rounds. They go from school to district to state to nationals. They do want to stop this cycle at state only ? Why ? What would be the benefit of it and where would they get the funding from ? The players would be underpaid too.

[LTU_btc]

It would be difficult to imagine different reaction from UEFA. I hope that European Super Football League won't turn into real thing.
These top football clubs competing against each other would be interesting thing to watch, it would be great product which would bring a lot of money. But I think it would be very bad thing for whole European football and development of it. Rich clubs will get richer, poor will get poorer.
I'm not even talking about clubs outside TOP 5 leagues, forget about it. For clubs like Sevilla, Leicester, Napoli and etc, it would be huge hit for them. I agree that such league would destroy European football. I don't know know why to fix things which aren't broken, but probably greediness of top clubs is the answer.
I don't know how many of you follow European basketball, probably not many, but it's quite good example what would happen if Super League will be made. Best basketball clubs play in EuroLeague, they have guaranteed licesnse for 10 years, no matter of their results. They share revenue between themselves, they get best players. While remaining clubs are struggling to compete against them, gap is getting bigger and bigger. And even if they win their national league, they can't get in to EuroLeague.

[ralle14]

I think it could work if there's a way to give other teams a chance to qualify for the league and at the same time only allow a few of the top domestic teams.  But if the rules stay the same then it's kind of similar to the franchise route we see on the other american leagues like the NBA which isn't good since most if not all of the soccer leagues are on that relegation system. It'll be interesting to have another league but this is probably not the best one as it'll only make the competition more top heavy.

[Fortify]

I don't see what the big deal is to be honest - the players at that level are all getting paid ridiculous amounts and could probably do with a pay cut instead. FIFA and all those leagues have shown themselves to be just as self interested as anyone else, they're only concerned because it means they will lose big money. It might actually backfire on the clubs who join the European Super Football league in the mid to long term, as they have huge followings but the games will start to get more stale in a smaller group and the best players might decide to stay away if they will be banned from playing for their national team. It seems driven by greed all round and will lead to a lot of unnecessary division while doing nothing to benefit the fans. It will be interesting to see what the press release is today, this seems to have been spurred by the announced shake up of the Championship League tomorrow.

[Saint-loup]

''France's President Emmanuel Macron said he "welcomes the position of French clubs to refuse to participate" in a European Super League "that threatens the principle of solidarity and sporting merit."

Emmanuel Macron has really made a statement about that?   Oh my god, what a shame, he seems to have not any more important things to manage than such a superficial topic, that's crazy.
Personally, I think this idea of a new Super Football League with the best clubs could be interesting but why only european teams would be accepted?
This league should be intercontinental and opened to CONMEBOL, CONCACAF, CAF, AFC and OFC clubs too, so it wouldn't compete frontally with the UEFA league.

[Saint-loup]

Personally, I think this idea of a new Super Football League with the best clubs could be interesting but why only european teams would be accepted?
This league should be intercontinental and opened to CONMEBOL, CONCACAF, CAF, AFC and OFC clubs too, so it wouldn't compete frontally with the UEFA league.

And what about other good clubs in Europe, Porto, Sevilla, Borussia Dortmund, Everton, Leicester etc.?
Shouldn’t the criteria for selecting clubs for a competition be purely sporty, based on the results?
The new super football league seems to be created solely on the basis of money and power and for marketing and business reasons rather than sports reasons.
Is there a justified sports reason to prevent all other clubs from fighting for the title of European champion?

I don't get what you mean, the creation of this new european super league won't make the 2 other european leagues disappear, the Champions League and the Europa League will stay and all clubs will be able to compete against each other within those 2 leagues, except the clubs eventually banned of course. But the decision to ban these clubs belongs to the UEFA, and is not a choice from the European Super League.

[Pierre 2]

I don't know if they will be able to launch this, I am still surprised by the fact they challenged UEFA authority. This may lead to huge problems between broadcasters, football federations, even fans.
I see this as unfair monopoly like business over sports, Europe isn't about 20 teams, there are many alternative teams with success stories in champions league or europe league.
I think they should settle with UEFA to make this league possible very short alternative league.

If they don't I am sure UEFA will not hesitate to ban all of them from official tournaments.

[LFC_Bitcoin]

Source - https://www.liverpoolfc.com/news/first-team/431801-leading-european-football-clubs-announce-new-super-league-competition#

Liverpool Football Club can confirm that we have joined Europe's leading clubs in agreeing to form a new competition, the European Super League.


A joint statement released by all 12 founding clubs can be found below, with further information being made available in due course.

We are committed to working with all stakeholders, particularly supporters, as plans for the competition develop.

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.

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.

Florentino Pérez, President Real Madrid CF 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, Andrea 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.”

[justdimin]

I really wish this to be true, I really want like a 20 team, best teams in the world league that everyone plays, since these teams earn soooo much money, it would be basically very easy for them to keep flying from one place to another. There needs to be some rules, but look at NBA, that is a vast nation and teams fly from one side to another constantly, they figure out a scheduling that will help the teams move easier, get games around the same places back to back so that they could finish it before they go back in order to not make the same trip twice in a week, so it can be done.

This would really make football so much more entertaining. However we all know they are doing this constantly and then they give up when they get more incentives from Uefa, so all Uefa has to do is guarantee these teams entry to champions league no matter what and they will give up this idea.

[Saint-loup]

I really wish this to be true, I really want like a 20 team, best teams in the world league that everyone plays, since these teams earn soooo much money, it would be basically very easy for them to keep flying from one place to another. There needs to be some rules, but look at NBA, that is a vast nation and teams fly from one side to another constantly, they figure out a scheduling that will help the teams move easier, get games around the same places back to back so that they could finish it before they go back in order to not make the same trip twice in a week, so it can be done.

This would really make football so much more entertaining. However we all know they are doing this constantly and then they give up when they get more incentives from Uefa, so all Uefa has to do is guarantee these teams entry to champions league no matter what and they will give up this idea.

There is nothing new in flying from one country to another across Europe when you are a professional football player. Even smaller teams are doing it within the Europa League. Moreover there are several competitions that involved players in their national team : the world cup, the european cup, the olympic games, the nations league, friendly matches between countries, etc

[LTU_btc]

I really wish this to be true, I really want like a 20 team, best teams in the world league that everyone plays, since these teams earn soooo much money, it would be basically very easy for them to keep flying from one place to another. There needs to be some rules, but look at NBA, that is a vast nation and teams fly from one side to another constantly, they figure out a scheduling that will help the teams move easier, get games around the same places back to back so that they could finish it before they go back in order to not make the same trip twice in a week, so it can be done.

This would really make football so much more entertaining. However we all know they are doing this constantly and then they give up when they get more incentives from Uefa, so all Uefa has to do is guarantee these teams entry to champions league no matter what and they will give up this idea.

There would be not much changes in terms of travelling - games would be played in mid-week, like Champions league now. But it's not main issue.
Games between biggest clubs would be interesting, but there would be less competition and more commercial stuff. These clubs will get a lot of money, but for remaining teams it would be big hit. Strong clubs like Sevilla, Roma, Napoli and etc wouldn't get chance to play in Super League because they don't belong to closed elite club.
And I'm not sure how popular my opinion is, but NBA regular season is waste of time. There is so many boring, zero value, meaningless games where team don't play seriously. 82 games is way too much IMO.
Still, I don't see Super League running, considering that these teams will be banned from their national leagues.

[just_Alice]

I doubt that many leagues will join them, because the idea of such self-established, though not directly, but assumably, superiority is repelling and might not be taken well by others. Especially after the UEFA, Premier League, and the rest stated their non-approving position. Of course, they're probably seeking a financial profit here, but in the end, it can result in a war between the Super League and the rest and both will suffer losses from it.

[DoublerHunter]

^ Just my own opinion, for me this is an epic fail idea. I don’t really know the reason why they have decided to create this league.
I just smelled something fishy about this, seems like the people behind this idea are about to make money for themselves on the wrong way. Challenging other authorities is something that is not really good. I read that their vision was to create a better quality league that would grow financially and become world-class. Nevertheless, I think they missed the point that they might just share the market in a way that they would possibly shrink.

[DU18]

^ Just my own opinion, for me this is an epic fail idea. I don’t really know the reason why they have decided to create this league.
I just smelled something fishy about this, seems like the people behind this idea are about to make money for themselves on the wrong way. Challenging other authorities is something that is not really good. I read that their vision was to create a better quality league that would grow financially and become world-class. Nevertheless, I think they missed the point that they might just share the market in a way that they would possibly shrink.

although currently the Europa Super League is reaping many pros and cons but in my opinion the competition is worth watching because indeed the participants are a big team of world football and the European Super League itself was initiated by a large team as a solution to overcome the financial crisis that many face when the current pandemic and if I'm not mistaken the competition would have raised a sizeable amount of $ 6 billion from the JP Morgan Bank.
The problem with the Europa Super League is that when a large team joins a competition, it will certainly make the small team in the competition unable to compete with the big team, which in fact is a team team full of star players and of course this will make the team team will small would be the worst.

[Jackl87]

I don't think that we will see a Super league anytime soon. My personal opinion is, that those clubs just want to put pressure onto the UEFA so they make changes in favor of the clubs and i also have to say i really like that those clubs are doing this now to show the UEFA that they are not the kings of football that own everything and can decide whatever they want just because every club wants to play in their competitions and therefore does not dare to speak up against their doings and decisions.
If the Super League becomes reality it would be weird though. Some Top clubs would probably still play in the champions league then and others in the Super League. So both competitions would be less prestigious then. 

[slapper]

If this idea of a European football league comes true, then Europe will be divided into big and small clubs and countries, and UEFA will completely lose all influence and huge profits from football competitions.
Only the 12 richest clubs in the world will be able to compete for the title of European champion, and Paris SG and Bayern will probably join this league.
Fair sports competition and equal opportunity for all? Forget it, everything will turn into a business.
Small clubs simply will not get a chance to fight for the title of European champion because big clubs don't want small clubs to bother them and take away their profits.

And all this even though UEFA was considering a compromise, to create a league of 32 clubs in which the biggest clubs would always have their reserved place.
This is a really sad idea, which will destroy European club football, what do you think?

It is believed that EUFA does not contribute enough for the whole league and the profit-sharing only to benefit themselves without thinking of competing teams. That is why Florentino Pérez want to make Super league because they cant make a compromise with UEFA to improve the quality of CL.

And increase the maximum team to 32 is advantageous for one and only EUFA while clubs will get frustrated and exhausted because of the dense schedule.

I personally support this league due to the high quality and professionalism of the council. However, the reality is much more different when EUFA decides to make a strong statement (perhaps banning) in order to prevent Super league from getting start

[Spack17]

It looks like these teams have really fed up with the monopolization and also they may not be very happy with the incomes from the Champions League, I don't know.

But I like seeing changes in football as long as they are logical. And I don't see this as a wrong choice for these teams. If they succeed in this new format, we could even see UEFA getting destroyed forever (if they don't work together in some way).

[Lakai01]

In his article, Paul Macdonald asked 5 very important questions about this Super League project, and showed how much vagueness  there is still around the whole project.
It seems that everything was done in a hurry and was not well prepared.

I still assume that the Super League is a shot across the bow of UEFA. After all, UEFA itself is planning reforms to the Champions League, including increasing the number of teams - which will leave less revenue for the top teams on the bottom line.

The Super League plans are intended to put pressure on UEFA to rethink its plans and to include the "big" teams in the planning. That is why the whole thing seems so "rushed" ... because it is and it is definitely not well thought out.