Agnelli relaunches the Ceferin SuperLega and UEFA: “absurd idea”

The Juventus president re-proposes the tournament plan for the richest clubs «They knew about our project, we didn’t fail. We need reforms “

No failures and no steps back. Andrea Agnelli relaunches the SuperLega project and chooses London, where the plan for a new Champions League was ditched by the English founding clubs 48 hours after the launch in April a year ago, to publicly challenge UEFA and the former friend Ceferin.

“There is a desperate need for reforms and a monopoly body is not suited to lead a business like football,” remarked the Juventus president during the “Business of Football Summit”, organized by the Financial Times. Agnelli does not discover the cards in hand, or rather transform a closed tournament into an “open” one with two leagues of 20 teams with promotions and relegations, but it goes all the way. «The SuperLega did not fail – explains the Juventus number one – and UEFA knew that something different was being worked on: it is a collective work of 12 people, not just one. There are 12 clubs that have signed a 150-page contract and it is still binding on 11 of these ».

Only Inter would be out of the game, given that they hadn’t signed anything, while in addition to Real Madrid and Barcelona there would still be the two Manchester teams plus Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal and Tottenham as well as Milan and Atletico Madrid. “The project was not used as a threat or as a willingness to seek compromise, as has been the case in the past. Compromise is no longer a choice – Agnelli reiterates -, now we need reforms ».

In London, the protagonists of this tug-of-war met for the first time, which began 318 days ago with the sensational night communiqué that gave birth to the SuperLega. Andrea Agnelli is in the main hall of the hotel “The Biltmore Mayfair” in London, while the Spaniard Javier Tebas attacks him from the stage (“These Super League clubs lie more than Putin and think we are all stupid”) and the English Richard Masters , CEO of the Premier League, defines himself “not worried about a SuperLeague that has defeated itself”.

Alexander Ceferin, in video link, also uses very harsh words. «I’m fed up and tired of this non-football project – says the president of UEFA -: they launched their absurd idea in the middle of a pandemic and now they are planning another one during a war. They are people who live in a parallel world ». Agnelli quickly liquidated Tebas (“His words qualify him”) and launched a new attack on Ceferin, when he was asked whether he is asking for the dissolution of UEFA. «I will wait for the European Council of Justice to tell us if the current body is suitable for the purpose – replies the Juventus president -: now they have 3 roles in one and that’s not good. In a transparent system the roles are separated ». Pending the pronouncement of justice, therefore, the project continues. “The clubs are free to create their own tournament – adds Ceferin – but do not expect to compete in those of UEFA.” Agnelli is not there and in a cryptic way replies: «Will Juve play in the Champions League in 5 years? I can say that he will play in the highest European competition ». –