Fifteen of Europe’s biggest clubs are in talks to launch a European Super League, scheduled to begin in the 2023-24 season, with a $ 6 billion fund supporting the project, sources told ESPN.
If the initiative is successful, it would threaten the existence of the Champions League, the most important club competition in football, and UEFA will announce on Monday a new format of 36 teams for the tournament designed to avoid attempts to separate get away from the best clubs.
As reported by ‘The Times’, the top English clubs Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham are among the 11 European teams that have signed up for the Super League plan.
A person familiar with the plan told ESPN that the proposed framework involves a total of 20 teams, with 15 permanent members who cannot be relegated.
Another five teams will rotate in and out of the competition, depending on performance, but permanent members will include six Premier League clubs, three from La Liga, three from Serie A in Italy, two from the Bundesliga and one from the League 1 of France. .
Sources have told ESPN that New York-based investment bank JP Morgan will fund the project, with $ 6 billion distributed as loans to teams.
Under pressure from the Association of European Clubs, UEFA has drawn up plans to reshape the Champions League format, and the new competition will be announced on Monday, ahead of the UEFA Executive Committee summit in Switzerland. week.
UEFA criticized the plans in a statement, saying: “UEFA, the English Football Federation and the Premier League, the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) and Laliga, and the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) and the Lega Serie A have learned that it is possible that English, Spanish and Italian clubs are planning to announce the creation of a closed Superliga call.
“If this happens, we would like to reiterate that we, UEFA, the English Football Federation, the RFEF, the FIGC, the Premier League, Laliga, the Serie A League, but also FIFA and all our member federations, will continue. united in our efforts to Stop this cynical project, a project that is based on the self-interest of a few clubs at a time when society needs solidarity more than ever.
“We will consider all the measures at our disposal, at all levels, both judicial and sporting to prevent this from happening. Football is based on open competitions and sporting merit, it cannot be otherwise.
“As already announced by FIFA and the six federations, the clubs in question will not be able to play in any other competition at national, European or world level, and their players could be deprived of the opportunity to represent their national teams.
“We thank the clubs of other countries, especially the French and German clubs, who have refused to join this. We call on all football fans, fans and politicians, to join we in the fight against a project like this. be announced. This persistent self-interest of a few has been going on for too long. That’s enough. “
Planned to take effect in 2024, the remodeled Champions League would involve 36 teams playing 10 group games instead of six. Larger clubs would also receive a larger share of the prize money.
Sources told ESPN that UEFA plans to go ahead with its announcement on Monday, and that any separatist league remains a distant prospect, and that UEFA and FIFA national federations must approve the proposal.
Meanwhile, the Series A convened an emergency board meeting on Sunday to discuss a newspaper report that says DAZN is involved in new plans for the separatist league, a source told Reuters.
The meeting was convened by the president of the league, Paolo Dal Pino, and the Italian newspaper ‘Corriere dello Sport’ reported that DAZN, owned by Access Industries of billionaire Len Blavatnik, has been working on the formation of the league for some time.
The report states that the meeting is being attended remotely, with the three Serie A clubs that could be part of the new project: Juventus, Inter Milan and AC Milan.
FIFA has previously said that players listed in any separatist European Super League would be banned from playing in FIFA competitions, including the World Cup.
It culminates in a tumultuous week for Serie A after seven clubs submitted a written request for Dal Pino to resign over issues including his management of plans to sell a stake in the league’s media business.
Plans to expand the Champions League are also likely to meet opposition from fans; ESPN reported last week that fan groups have already registered their anger over the changes proposed by UEFA.