Gianni Infantino, the boss of Fifa.

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MARVIN RECINOS / AFP

Could FIFA be on the verge of declaring war on UEFA, with the help of Manchester United and Liverpool?

This is the question that arises after the publication of an article from Sky Sports which reports on a more or less secret project to build a closed European league by 2022;

project initiated by the two enemy clubs in the north of England.

“This is potentially the most important upheaval in club football in decades,” a source familiar with the matter told British media.

The idea?

Bring together the eighteen best European clubs from the five major leagues (England, Spain, Germany, France and Italy) in one and the same league, the European Premier League, and make them compete in the windows of European matches with, at stake, a sort of Final 8 version Lisbon 2020. Such a project would therefore encroach on Champions League matches, which should not please UEFA, unless it is also involved in the project. .

Sky Sports journalists failed to substantiate this hypothesis, and neither FIFA nor UEFA obviously wanted to react to these rumors.

and therefore much more seduced by closed leagues.

The time will come for philosophical discussions on this creation and what it says about the evolution of football and sport, but the European Super League seems only a matter of time.

- Damien Dole (@DamienDole) October 20, 2020

A loan of six billion euros from the bank JP Morgan?

Sky Sports even contends that announcements could be made as early as the end of October, "although on Tuesday a number of key details - including the full list of participating clubs - had not yet been finalized and plans could yet fall in the water.

"Nevertheless, the project does not seem to be at the draft stage since we learn that the investment bank JP Morgan was involved in order to finance a loan to the tune of six billion euros for the launch of this “European Premier League”.

This loan "being repayable on the future broadcasting income generated by the tournament", specifies the English journalist.

Nothing is official yet and reforming European club football so profoundly should take a long time - especially as UEFA is for its part working on a reform of the format of its beloved Champions League - but this news information suggests that sooner or later, like it or not, the closed League format between wealthy clubs is likely to impose itself in Europe.

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