Florentino Pérez has said he is “completely sure” that Real Madrid and other Superliga participants will not be expelled from the Champions League this season for their role in the group proposed for the break, and has criticized the format of the current competition, saying it is “only attractive for the quarter-finals” and the clubs “will all die” without a major overhaul.
Madrid’s president Pérez, one of the promoters of the Superliga project, who has been named its president, is the first executive involved in the plan to speak publicly since Sunday’s announcement.
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“The Champions League is attractive from the quarterfinals, that’s all,” said the Spanish program El Chiringuito at night. “We play against small teams that are not attractive. Young people prefer to entertain themselves with other things. But if we do it all season, five games on Tuesday and five on Wednesday, it would be unstoppable.
“What would bring money is that all 15 clubs are played every week. It’s the biggest program in the world, there’s nothing like it,” he added. “A Real Madrid-Manchester [United] or a Barcelona-Milan is more attractive than Manchester [United] against a small club.
“What is the world asking for? We have fans in Singapore, in China, all over the world, you see it on social media, the followers they have. That’s what makes money.”
12 clubs – AC Milan, Arsenal, Atletico Madrid, Chelsea, Barcelona, Internazionale, Juventus, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Real Madrid and Tottenham Hotspur – have joined ESL as founding members.
The pro-independence competition, aimed at replacing the UEFA Champions League (which announced its own reform plans on Monday), has said three more clubs are expected to join, while another five are ranked according to the performance.
“Today, with the Champions League revenue as it is, we will die,” said Perez, who stressed the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. “Less public, less money. We will all die, the big clubs, the medium-sized clubs, the small clubs. They say the new Champions League format will come in 2024, we will already be dead.”
Perez is the first president of the Superliga, while Andrea Agnelli of Juventus and Joel Glazer of Manchester United have been named vice-presidents.
The project has received critical acclaim from football governing bodies, fans and other high-profile clubs that are not involved.
The League called the ESL a “selfish and selfish proposal designed to further enrich those who are already super rich” in a statement Monday.
Sevilla, who are currently fourth in the league behind the three sponsors of ESL, Atlético, Real and Barça, expressed their “total rejection of a tournament based exclusively on economic parameters”.
Perez, 74, who was re-elected unopposed as president of Real Madrid for a four-year term earlier this month, also rejected the suggestion that the club could be expelled from the Champions League. season.
Madrid will face Chelsea in the first leg of their semi-final on Tuesday 27 April before the return leg on Wednesday 5 May.
“Surely they will not expel Madrid from the Champions League,” Perez said. “Neither Madrid nor Madrid [Manchester] City or anyone. I’m completely sure. Or the League either. “
Jesper Moller, a Danish member of UEFA’s executive committee, said on Monday that he hoped Madrid, Chelsea and Manchester City would be eliminated from the competition.
Perez also insisted that players “can be completely calm” when they are banned from participating in UEFA and FIFA international tournaments such as the World Cup, “because that will not happen”.