Soon, the six English Superliga participants had followed suit and bowed out of the competition. Just 48 hours after it was announced, the project was unraveling.
Arsenal were the furthest away from recognizing the crucial role fans had played in pressuring the club to retire.
“The last few days have shown us once again the depth of the feeling that our fans around the world feel for this great club and the game we like,” began an open letter from the Arsenal board. “We didn’t need to remember that, but the response from supporters in recent days has given us time for deeper reflection and reflection.”
Of fans, players, experts and politicians (not to mention rival clubs and the governing bodies of the game), the response to the Superliga was emphatic.
On Tuesday, the players of Liverpool, one of the twelve clubs that initially signed up for the exclusive competition, addressed social media: “We don’t like it and we don’t want it to happen,” was the collective message, until and all if they did not explicitly mention the Super League.
His manager, Jurgen Klopp, had shared his own reservations the day before, while Pep Guardiola, Klopp’s counterpart at Manchester City, was confronted with the way “everyone thinks for himself” at the top of the party.
Broadcasters, including Amazon and BT, distanced themselves from the Super League, as did some of the game’s most prominent television figures: “If it really happens, I’ll never work in this European Super League,” Gary Lineker tweeted. BBC and BT presenter.
With the disapproval of the virtually unanimous football community, politicians intervened.
The failure of the Superliga has not only demonstrated the amount of power exercised by the wealthy owners of the best European clubs, but also how football fans and interest groups can fight against that power.
There has also been resistance from some club owners. The president and CEO of Paris Saint-Germain, Nasser Al-Khelaifi, urged football not to forget its fans, as it promised loyalty to the European competitions of UEFA and Bayern Munich, which defeated PSG in last year’s Champions League final, he also rejected the Superliga.
But what has been highlighted is how the game balances the intentions of club owners with the wishes of fans, an existential and ongoing issue for football.
On Monday, the UK government announced a fan-led review of the sport following the launch of the Superliga, which it calls a “basic examination of football in this country”.
“Football has to take its fans incredibly seriously and fight them for their danger. I think it’s probably a lesson learned that will really help move the situation forward,” UK Sports Minister Christina Macfarlane told Nigel Huddleston.
Huddleston added that the review “will offer a whole host of recommendations on football governance and also on the flow of money in football. We will see what those recommendations are and hopefully this will also help us stand on a firmer footing.”
Possible results of the review could include the introduction of an independent professional football regulator in the UK.
“It’s been talked about for a few years, we don’t discount it,” Huddleston added.
“There are definitely problems with the scope of responsibilities. I suspect the idea of a regulator would not go well with some of the football authorities who believe they should probably do it themselves.
“But we have seen too many failures and too many problems with English football in recent years.”
The Super League and the issue of ownership at the top of the game have united and mobilized the football community at large in a unique way, unlike other issues affecting the game.
Asked for his opinion on the Superliga earlier this week, Leeds striker Patrick Bamford wondered why game makers are prepared to take drastic action when football finances are at stake, but not against racism.
West Ham, one of the clubs that could have missed the opportunity to face the top European teams with the presentation of the Superliga, tweeted on Tuesday that it is time to “refocus on what is important and stay united to show that there is no room for racism. “
“No controversy, no matter how great the passions, can justify the horrific anti-Semitic abuse that some Twitter users provoked against football clubs and their owners,” a spokesman for the Anti-Semitism Campaign said.
When contacted by CNN about anti-Semitic posts, a Twitter spokesman said, “Keeping people safe on Twitter is a priority for us. We have clear policies in place for everyone, everywhere, that address threats of violence.” harassment and hate speech, and we take action when we identify accounts that violate these rules. “
Twitter also said action has been taken against the tweets referred to in the report for violating the company’s hateful behavior policy.
The balance of power between European “big clubs” and the governing bodies of sport is an issue that will not soon disappear, but which is far from the only problem that included sport.
In late 2019, Nasser Al-Khater, chief executive of Qatar’s 2022 World Cup organizing committee, told CNN that the nation had been “judged by the court of perception very soon.”
“Was Qatar treated unfairly? Yes, in my opinion, a lot,” Al Khater said.
But with the tournament just over a year old, last month’s qualifying matches are unlikely to be the last time Qatar’s human rights record goes under the microscope, and whether the events surrounding the Superliga have taught us something, it’s the biggest catalysts for change in football can be found within the game.