Bartomeu bids farewell to Barcelona ... and the club agrees to participate in the "European Super League"
The rumors circulating a while ago about a big project called "European Super League" in the interest of big clubs turned into reality with Bartomeu calling the media to announce his resignation, as the former president threw a small media bomb.
Bartomeu bid farewell to the Barcelona family after officially announcing his resignation with the members of his board of directors, but he surprised everyone when he said yesterday: "The board of directors agreed to accept the preconditions for participation in the European Super League football between clubs," explaining that "the decision to participate in this competition It needs the approval of the Socius representatives (fans-contributors) association of Barcelona. "
This is the first official confirmation of the closed league project among the top clubs of the old continent.
Last week, British newspapers revealed the outlines of this tournament.
"Sky Sport" indicated on the 20th of this month that the negotiations for the establishment of this competition, which will compete with the European Union championships such as the Champions League and the Europa League, are about to materialize.
This "super" tournament is supposed to bring together the best 18 clubs in the most prominent tournaments in Europe, with playoff matches to be held at the end of each season, in the manner of the grouping system that was held last August between eight clubs in the last Champions League in Lisbon, after the outbreak of the Corona virus. Novelty.
A similar project could collide with many critics: UEFA is the guarantor of a more meritorious system, in which clubs must qualify through their domestic championships to continental competitions.
Then there are the defenders of medium and small clubs who will likely be eliminated from the Super League, or unable to keep up with a busy schedule.
Last August, the president of the Slovenian European Union, Alexander Ceferin, dismissed the idea of the Super League last August, saying: "Any Super League between 10, 12, 24 clubs will become boring. When you listen to the Champions League anthem, you know what we are talking about." ... I don't see how he can be successful, even if they try to do so. "
A similar opinion was expressed by the president of the Spanish League, Javier Tebas, in an interview with AFP on Wednesday, "These underground projects look good, because when you think about them at five in the morning after a night you spend in the bar."
Tebas immediately responded to the Catalan administrator’s statements on Twitter: “Unfortunately for Bartomeu, on the last day of his term, he announces that he will participate in a ghost competition that is leading Barcelona to ruin, and confirms his ignorance in the football industry.”
A $ 6 billion
project. This project, rejected by the heads of the leagues, is a serious economic lever for clubs whose budgets have collapsed in the outbreak of the "Covid-19" virus, starting last spring.
According to "Sky Sports", the financing of the new tournament amounts to 6 billion dollars, guaranteed by financing the television rights of the event.
Each club can receive "hundreds of millions of pounds sterling" as a result of its participation, according to British newspapers.
"The European Super League will ensure that the club continues to belong to Socius (the fans)," Bartomeu insisted.
Barcelona announced early this month that its losses amounted to 97 million euros (114 million dollars) last season, while the value of its debts reached 488 million euros.
The projects to reform the continental championships have been the subject of great controversy in recent months, after the end of television broadcasting rights contracts in 2024, as the vanguard clubs try to push towards the establishment of an elite tournament criticized by other clubs and local league leagues.
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