The football fraternity on Sunday was rocked with the biggest announcement in decades.
Twelve of Europe’s biggest clubs have announced plans to break away from the established soccer order and form a new competition, European Super League. The development has the potential to change the European soccer landscape.
The European Super League would offer permanent spots to some of the world’s biggest clubs and play matches mid week, while allowing the involved clubs to remain in their domestic competitions.
The emergence of European Super League is to rival the Champions League. But news coming in on Tuesday indicates that the much talked about European Super League is at the verge of collapse.
Four clubs are preparing to withdraw from the European Super League, according to reports, less than two days after the controversial breakaway project was announced.
Chelsea, Manchester City, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid are all now expected to pull support from the Super League, which has received enormous criticism from fans, footballing authorities and national governments.
Chelsea were the first confirmed team to pull out on Tuesday evening, quickly followed by Manchester City. Both sides are still competing in this season’s Champions League, though had been threatened with expulsion.
The news came as Blues fans gathered outside Stamford Bridge ahead of tonight’s game with Brighton to protest the decision.
Reports have followed from Spain that Barcelona and Atletico Madrid are also withdrawing.
The departures would leave just eight of Sunday night’s founding 12 clubs on board, and the future of the idea in deep doubt.
As yet, there are no reportsthat Liverpool, Manchester United, Tottenham, Real Madrid, Juventus, AC Milanor Inter Milan are on the verge of leaving.
The European Super League has been criticised since being announced on Sunday.
FIFA, UEFA and the domestic leagues have kicked against the move and threatened to ban clubs and players from competing in their competitions if they compete in the new European Super League.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino, warned the 12 breakaway clubs that they could not be “half in,half out.”
“We will consider all measures available to us, at all levels, both judicial and sporting in order to prevent this happening. Football is based on open competitions and sporting merit; it cannot be any other way, UEFA said.
“The clubs concerned will be banned from playing in any other competition at domestic, European or world level, and their players could be denied the opportunity to represent their national teams.”
“The players that will play in the closed league will be banned from playing in the World Cup and Euros. They will not be allowed to play for their national teams.”
The implication for these statements might see Real Madrid, Chelsea and Man City expelled from this season’s Champions League competition.
Around 1,000 fans gathered outside Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge home ground on Tuesday before their game against Brighton on Tuesday to protest their involvement. Chelsea and City were part of English football’s ‘big six’ clubs – alongside Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United and Tottenham – to have agreed to join the new league.
The money-spinning Super League will see clubs share an initial £3.1billion infrastructure grant ranging from £310million to £89million per club which can be spent on stadiums, training facilities or “to replace lost stadium-related revenues due to Covid-19”.
TV and sponsorship income is expected to rise: 32.5% of the pot would be shared equally between the participating clubs, and another 32.5% between all Super League clubs including the five qualifiers
