Monday, April 19, 2021
BVB and Bayern are not there
Twelve top clubs want to found Superliga
Shortly before the reform of the Champions League, the dispute between top clubs and UEFA escalates. Twelve clubs announce the establishment of a super league. Fifa is not happy about the spin-off plans.
Twelve European top football clubs want to found a European super league as soon as possible. Several clubs such as the English champions FC Liverpool published a statement on their website on Monday night. The German record champions FC Bayern and Borussia Dortmund are therefore not involved in the plans – as is the French champion Paris Saint-Germain.
In addition to Liverpool, the other Premier League clubs Manchester City, Manchester United, Arsenal FC, Chelsea FC and Tottenham Hotspur as well as the top Spanish clubs Real Madrid, FC Barcelona and Atletico Madrid as well as the Italian trio Juventus Turin, AC and Inter Milan belong to the association . Three more clubs are to be added. The teams announced talks with UEFA and the world association FIFA.
“We will help football at every level and bring 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” , Real boss Florentino Perez was quoted as being chairman.
Without naming the planned Super League, FIFA spoke out against the project again immediately after the plans were announced. “From our point of view and in accordance with our statutes, every competition in football, whether national, regional or global, should reflect the basic principles of solidarity, inclusiveness, integrity and equal financial redistribution,” it said in a statement.
Super league planned with 20 clubs
Associations should use every opportunity in law, sport and diplomacy to ensure that this continues to be the case. Against this background, FIFA can only “express its disapproval” for a closed European breakaway league that does not respect the principles mentioned, it continues. FIFA calls on all parties involved to participate in a “calm, constructive and balanced dialogue”.
The establishment of a super league was always discussed in recent years when it came to the distribution of TV money in the European Cup. The new competition with 20 clubs is planned, five of which are to join via a qualification mechanism. The games should take place during the week. Two groups of ten are planned, the winner should then be determined via knockout games. The founding associations should initially have 3.5 billion euros at their disposal. The clubs also want to make solidarity payments.
The plans for a super league had already leaked on Sunday and caused great criticism. The European Football Union UEFA and the national leagues reacted a little later with a sharp threat. The clubs would be excluded from all other competitions and their players would no longer be allowed to play for national teams, said UEFA. The world association FIFA and the other continental associations had already announced this in the past.
The decision of the twelve top clubs comes shortly before the decision on a far-reaching reform for the Champions League. The UEFA Executive Committee will decide during its meeting on Monday to increase the premier class from 32 to 36 participants and to introduce a new mode.
.