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April 22, 2021 "The merit of the failure of the Superlega project was mainly due to the fans who staged a real revolution and did not allow themselves to be despised, ignored, they did not allow anyone to think about buying them". Thus to the Slovenian broadcaster '24ur' the president of UEFA, Alexander Čeferin, explains the main reason for the failure of the 'coup des Scrooge', of the 12 most noble, rich and indebted clubs in Europe (and the world) who wanted to achieve their own semi-closed tournament (15 permanent members, 3 of which never defined, and 5 'invited' clubs in rotation every year).
According to Čeferin, the likes of Real Madrid, Juventus, Manchester United or Liverpool "have all underestimated us" and "this is typical of people who are mostly surrounded by those who nod and tell them they are the best. the most beautiful and the most intelligent ", he added, explaining that" they probably underestimated me and the whole situation, I'm surprised they didn't know what situation they were in ". A detachment from reality which is, according to the UEFA president, at the base of the flop.
But was it really an operation carried out with the arrogance of those who are rich and powerful who do not listen to anyone who expresses an opinion different from their own? To hear the post-flop statements of AC Milan's technical director, Paolo Maldini, or Inter's CEO, Giuseppe Marotta, it would seem so. Not to mention the reactions of some coaches (see Klopp of Liverpool or Guardiola of Manchester City), of sports commentators, of all sports and political institutions, of fans, especially the English ones. At home in Italy, apart from Juventus, where the 'mind' of the project and the one who put his face on it most of all was Andrea Agnelli, president and major shareholder of the club, it would seem that Milan and Inter have acted 'above' the head of their managers or, in any case,of some of them. Speaking to Sky, before the match against Sassuolo, Paolo Maldini said last night: "I have never been involved in discussions on the Super League. I learned about this thing on Sunday evening that was decided at a higher management level. But this does not exempt me. from apologizing to the fans, who felt betrayed in the fundamental principles of sport that we have always respected at Milan. "who felt betrayed in the fundamental principles of sport that we have always respected at Milan. "who felt betrayed in the fundamental principles of sport that we have always respected at Milan. "
As for Inter's CEO Marotta, he said he was informed of the operation, but stressed that it was "an action managed, as right, by the owners", which he then tried to justify by saying that it was done ". perhaps uncoordinated, but in good faith to avoid default and in the end do the good of all ". The day after the official bankruptcy of the Super League (even if Florentino Pérez insists on saying that "it was only put on stand-by"), therefore, it seems clear that the whole project was done by the properties of the clubs that aimed to make ends meet and have reasoned only in macroeconomic terms without considering the variables that are independent and uncontrollable in football: irrational passion and morbid attachment to the fans' jersey,social importance and economic repercussions at the lowest levels (from the minor categories to amateurs and amateurs), sporting ideals often forgotten but never buried.
So who is responsible for the attempted 'coup' which within 48 hours turned into a boomerang for its architects? Those responsible have names and surnames, starting with Andrea Agnelli, whose family owns Juventus, where John Elkann is at the top with a fortune of 2 billion dollars. Then, remaining in Italy, there are: Paul Singer, founder of the Elliot Management fund (which controls Milan) with an estimated assets of 4.3 billion dollars and Steven Zhang (owner of Inter Milan), son of Zhang Jindong, one of the most powerful and richest men in China, whose fortune is around 7.3 billion dollars.
Then the other 'scroungers' owners or large shareholders of the 'Super League club': John Henry, one of the two owners of Liverpool, with a fortune of 2.8 billion dollars; the three patrons of Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham, Roman Abramovich, Stanley Kroenke and Joe Lewis, respectively with assets of 14.8, 8.2 and 4.9 billion dollars; Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Manchester City's number one, who recorded a fortune of $ 22.2 billion in 2018; Joel Glazer, co-owner of Manchester United, with a family fortune of approximately $ 5.8 billion; Israeli entrepreneur Idan Ofer, who owns 32% of Atlético Madrid shares and boasts assets of $ 6.4 billion; Florentino Pérez, president of Real reconfirmed on April 13 (in office until 2025),is an entrepreneur and has an estimated net worth of $ 2.2 billion.
Faced with these names and these assets, entrepreneurs, emirs or millionaires by birthright who wanted to change the rules with an act of force that seemed arrogant and disrespectful to all, especially towards those who feed football (with money), the Čeferin's words, dictated by a feeling of revenge, ring particularly significant and true: "It was an attempt to create a phantom league of the rich that did not follow any system, that would not have taken into account the pyramid of football in Europe, tradition, culture, history. This is typical of people who are mostly surrounded by those who nod and tell them to be the best, the most beautiful and the most intelligent. " In short, even the rich cry at times.