The magistrates of the European Court of Justice announced, on Thursday, the verdict in the case of the Super League. According to their decision, the interclub competition can start, without repercussions for the participating clubs. “It is an abuse of power on the part of FIFA and UEFA,” decided the European magistrates, writes Marca.
The European Court of Justice decided that UEFA cannot have a monopoly on interclub continental competitions and that not only the continental forum can organize this kind of competition. As such, clubs can also create a parallel competition.
But, this does not mean that this competition will start. Founding clubs and investors will have to convince future participating teams to join the project. However, it is expected that in this case UEFA will take measures.
“UEFA runs a system where it doesn’t take any risks. Only the clubs take a risk, from an economic point of view,” said Bernd Reichart, general manager of A22 Sports Management, the company that manages the European Super League project, quoted by the Spanish daily Marca.
“I earned the right to compete. The UEFA monopoly ends. Football is free! Clubs no longer have to fear being sanctioned and can decide their own future. I have a message for the fans. Our proposal is that all matches be broadcast for free. And I tell the clubs that they will have guaranteed income,” said Bernd Reichart.
In April 2021, the idea of the new competition was born, competing with the UEFA Champions League, which would have brought together 20 club teams from Europe, dissatisfied with the money received from TV rights. Of these, 15 would have had a guaranteed place every year. Initially, 12 clubs signed up to join the new competition, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Arsenal, Tottenham, Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool, Juventus, Manchester City, AC Milan, Inter and Atletico. Later, 10 withdrew and only Real Madrid and Barcelona remained.
Then it was decided to modify the structure, and according to the latest information there would be between 60 and 80 teams registered, divided into three divisions, but no clear format was established. Investors are willing to invest 15 billion for the launch of the competition. They would keep 15% of the tournament’s future turnover and give a share of the remaining 85% to the two founding members, Real and Barcelona, who would also receive a bonus for not giving up on the Super League plan for a moment. Thus, the two giants of La Liga could be chosen with one billion euros each.