Agnelli insists: “Superleague vital, so football dies”

“UEFA’s monopoly must be broken to give clubs a financially stable future.” Andrea Agnelli returns to speak after his resignation as president of Juventus on 18 January. Lo had said he would continue to work for better football, imagining “a future in which clubs don’t fall if they don’t qualify once for European competitions,” he explained to De Telegraaf. “This is a problem for any club. “With such uncertainty, it’s not possible as a club to make sustainable and sound long-term decisions. That’s why I’m in favor of a league system in top European football, with more financial and sporting opportunities for every club.”

When and how the idea was born

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At the roots of the idea of ​​the Superleague: “In 2019 we were ready, Aleksander (Ceferin, ed) and I. The top clubs of all the subdivisions of the ECA (at the time around 130 European professional clubs) had agreed on a new format. The medium-sized clubs of the big leagues, the managers of the big leagues and some national associations saw the new format as a threat and therefore Ceferin withdrew – he said – When UEFA decided to block the project, projects outside the Uefa to organize a new championship with all the ECA clubs. The possibility that the project will start will depend on the European Court of Justice… Internally it was a war that I was unable to win. Despite knowing that the current system does not offers a future to Ajax, Anderlecht, Celtic, Benfica, Panathinaikos and Red Star Belgrade.Then we do not stand still, but take other paths to get to what we want to do for European football c lub”.

The ‘great’ Premier League

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The Premier League and all the other tournaments: “Apart from the lack of financial stability, in many competitions, national and international, the winners are known in advance. Mainly due to the revenue that clubs get from the national market – explained Agnelli – England lead the way in this respect and you can see how generously the Premier League is represented in the final stages of European cup tournaments Spain are close behind along with some clubs like Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich. But in a sporting competition it is important that every participant has the chance to win. So also Ajax, Feyenoord and Juventus. As a football fan, I strongly support an international competition of this kind. In contrast to international federations. They have no regard for the club’s problems. As rulers, they want to keep everything as it is. They oppose any change. A Super League is needed, p Because if everything remains as predictable as it is at the moment, the public will move away from football.”