The European Football Super League (ESL) project has been postponed indefinitely.
The leadership of the new tournament said that due to the current circumstances, they are forced to consider steps to change the format of the competition.
At the same time, the organizers replied that they were not going to finally put an end to the prospects of this championship.
“The European Super League is convinced that the current status quo in European football needs to be changed. We are proposing a new European competition as the existing system does not work. The goal of our initiative is to empower sport to develop by generating resources and stability for the entire football pyramid, including helping to overcome the financial difficulties that the entire football community faces due to the pandemic. In addition, this initiative will provide significantly increased solidarity payments to all stakeholders in the field of football, ”- said the press service of ESL.
A key role in this matter was played by the decision of all six English clubs to withdraw from the Super League.
Over the past day, Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool, Arsenal, Tottenham and Chelsea have announced their intention to abandon the initiative.
And the first to report this was in the press service of the "townspeople".
"Football club" Manchester City "confirms that it has officially launched the procedure for withdrawing from the planning of the European Super League," - says the club's website.
The ESL leadership did not hide the fact that the refusal to participate in the project of English clubs had a major impact on the development of the situation.
But at the same time, they assured that they consider the Superleague project to be in accordance with the laws and intend to continue work on its implementation in the future.
“Despite the announced withdrawal of English clubs, which were persuaded to such decisions due to the pressure exerted on them, we are convinced that our initiative is fully consistent with European legal norms and rules, as demonstrated today by a court decision that protects the Super League from third parties. Given the current circumstances, we will rethink the most appropriate steps to rethink the project, always keeping in mind our task: to give fans the best possible experience as far as possible, while at the same time striving to increase solidarity payments for the entire football community, ”added the ESL bosses.
It is worth noting that the representatives of the Premier League had to face serious difficulties after they announced their desire to join the Super League. And here we are talking not only about the dissatisfaction of the fans, the leadership of the English championship, the local football union, as well as harsh criticism from the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). A number of athletes expressed their negative position in relation to this. In particular, Liverpool players posted a message on their Instagram pages in which they opposed the creation of a new tournament.
However, the disapproval of the players is not the only difficulty faced by the leaders of the Premier League, in particular, Liverpool. Thus, the Swiss watchmaking company Tribus broke the sponsorship contract with the reigning champion of England amid information about his entry into the ESL. The organization published a message on Twitter and stated that they are part of a devoted family of Red fans and cannot support the desire of the club owners to become participants in the new competition. Probably, all this together and made the Lersisides change their minds and quit the founders of the tournament.
Liverpool FC can confirm that our participation in the European Super League initiative has ended. The club recently received communications from various key stakeholders, both internal and external. We are grateful to them for their valuable comments, ”the press service of the reigning champions of England said.
Another club, considered one of the main supporters of the formation of the Super League in England, also retreated. Manchester United also listened to the opinion of the majority and abandoned this venture. Moreover, it is still difficult to say how this will affect the team in the long term. So, information has already appeared that the shares of the "red devils" have seriously sagged, and the Glazers are ready to sell a controlling stake in the 20-time champion of the country. And this is not counting the imminent departure of CEO Ed Woodward, which is also associated with the failed launch of the new European tournament.
“Manchester United will not participate in the European Super League. We have listened carefully to the views of our fans, the UK government and other key stakeholders. We remain committed to working with other members of the football community to find sustainable solutions to long-term problems in this sport, ”the press release said.
The opinion of the teams from the North-West of England was also shared by the teams from the capital. Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham did not stand out from the rest and also abandoned the idea of playing in a closed European league. At the same time, it was initially believed that it was the "aristocrats" who would be the first to leave the Super League founders, but in the end they did it after the main competitors in the Premier League. Blues' fans riot at Stamford Bridge, while club legend Peter Cech, who currently holds the post of technical and sports advisor, had to reassure the fans.
The press service of Arsenal published a detailed open letter in which they called joining the ESL a mistake and apologized for it to the fans. Nevertheless, the Gunners' bosses assured that they were guided solely by the concern for the club. In turn, the withdrawal of Tottenham from the Super League was commented on personally by the owner Daniel Levy.
“We regret the concern and discontent caused by the European Super League initiative. It was important for us that our club was involved in the creation of a possible new structure aimed at improving financial discipline and financial stability, while significantly increasing the support provided to the football pyramid as a whole. We believe that we cannot stand still, and that our sport should regularly rethink competition and governance so that the game we all love continues to evolve and delight fans around the world. We would like to thank all our fans who shared their balanced opinions, ”Levy announced the position of Tottenham.
The news of the refusal of Premier League clubs to compete in the Super League drew approval from both football officials and the UK government. Prime Minister Boris Johnson called this decision “absolutely correct” and the FA officials admired the way the event brought all fans together.
However, information appeared in the media that the demarche of the Premier League giants may be associated not so much with the desire to be closer to the fans, but with the satisfaction of financial appetites. According to Mundo Deportivo, UEFA has offered substantial sums of money to the top English teams for withdrawing from the Super League. The publication does not say whether the union has been in contact with the teams from Serie A, but confidently declares that the clubs in the Spanish La Liga were not promised a fee. Allegedly, the organization considers them to be the initiators of the creation of the ESL, and the president of Real Madrid, Florentino Perez, is the main ideologist.
At the moment, none of the Spanish clubs have announced their decision to abandon the creation of the Super League, but there are rumors that soon one of the leaders of the Italian championship will follow the path of the representatives of the Premier League. According to The Athletic, Milan have already quit the founders of the tournament, but the Rossoneri have not yet received any official confirmation.