Thursday, May 27, 2021
“Coercion and unbearable pressure”
Super League trio remains unteachable
Three out of twelve clubs that have declared the Super League refuse to back down. Real Madrid, FC Barcelona and Juventus Turin do not let their ideas rest. Rather, they raise serious allegations: UEFA would attack its rule of law and lack respect.
“Persistent coercion”, “direct attack on the rule of law”, “coercion and unbearable pressure”: the unteachable Super League trio simply does not want to back down. Less than 48 hours after the European Football Union (UEFA) initiated proceedings against Real Madrid, FC Barcelona and Juventus Turin, they are already launching a counterattack – and announcing relentless resistance. The common statement of the renegades has it all.
The action of UEFA “against three of the most important institutions in the history of football” is nothing more than “persistent coercion”, announced the trio – and immediately ignited the next level of escalation. Because, it is claimed, UEFA’s actions simply violate European law. Courts have already warned the umbrella organization not to take “no action” during the ongoing court proceedings.
“Therefore, the opening of disciplinary proceedings by UEFA is incomprehensible and is a direct attack on the rule of law that we, the citizens of the European Union, have democratically built, and at the same time is a lack of respect for the authority of the courts themselves,” said it in the explanation of the trio.
Massive penalties threatened
The disciplinary proceedings were initiated by UEFA on Tuesday. It was about “possible violations of the legal framework” of the continental association, it said in a message. The ethics and disciplinary inspectors had previously spent two weeks on the case. UEFA threatens massive penalties up to and including exclusion from its competitions because the economically troubled trio around Champions League record winners Real have persistently refused to renounce the Super League.
The other nine allied clubs had done so after the elite league crashed after just 48 hours in mid-April. They were reintegrated with the imposition of sanctions. The clubs donate a total of 15 million euros to promote youth and grassroots football and have committed, among other things, to paying 100 million euros if they try to take part in an unauthorized competition in the future.
Rescue from doom?
The three stubborn unteachable people, on the other hand, do not waste a thought on giving in. They have long since turned to the European Court of Justice to clarify whether UEFA is abusing its “dominant position” by trying to block a competing tournament. According to various legal experts, your chances of being right are not bad.
According to the trio, “no form of coercion or unbearable pressure will be accepted,” and they are still ready to “respectfully and in dialogue to discuss the urgent solutions that football currently needs”. The group is “in a precarious economic situation” only about “finding ways to modernize football”.
“Either”, the trio concludes their statement, “we reform football or we will have to watch its inevitable demise”. But it’s no secret that fans around the world see this in the founding of a Super League.
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