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The latest statements by the football rebels sounded like low-key confessions.
They had launched nothing but a declaration of war on the existing establishment in the night from Sunday to Monday - and now this: "In view of the current circumstances, we will reconsider the most appropriate steps to redesign the project," it said on Wednesday in a statement from the multi-billion dollar Super League.
"We are proposing a new European competition because the existing system is not working."
However, the main drivers of the elite league already planned for August around Real Madrid boss Florentino Pérez have to come up with a lot in the noble implementation of their questionable plans.
Because the field of participants has shrunk a lot and will probably cause the project to fail before it has even started.
There were just around 50 hours between the bang announced with great fanfare and the decline of the Super League.
Seldom before has a reform in football been cashed in so quickly.
Juventus boss Andrea Agnelli
Source: AFP
After all the founding members from England had already canceled their participation on Tuesday evening, co-initiator Andrea Agnelli also gave in on Wednesday afternoon.
He no longer sees a chance for the Super League in European football, said the President of Juventus Turin.
Pathetic external image
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For the clubs involved, which with the introduction of the league, in particular, identified an immense source of income during the corona pandemic, a considerable damage to their image has arisen from which they will have to suffer for a while.
In addition to the wretched public image, there is the impression that there are greedy functionaries who now want to eliminate the mismanagement that had been carried out in their clubs for years, with one blow, over and above all fan interests.
FC Barcelona alone, one of the founding clubs, is now accumulating a mountain of debt of more than 1.17 billion euros and is in danger of falling apart.
The Super League solution with guaranteed income of 3.5 billion euros per year for the starters has now expired as a new source of income.
It is difficult to accept that the financing bank JP Morgan should maintain its investment when the noble clubs of Europe are no longer represented, but a wildly assembled field of participants.
At WELT's request, JP Morgan did not want to comment on the events.
Andrea Agnelli (l.) And Florentino Pérez (r.) With the former mayor of Madrid, Ana Botella, at a charity event in 2013
Source: Europa Press via Getty Images
The initially determined alliance crumbled after protests from the economy, the leagues and associations in record time.
Manchester City was the first club to buckle and announced on Tuesday at 10:19 p.m. that they would no longer pursue their plans and prepare appropriate steps for an exit.
This was followed by champions Liverpool, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal and Chelsea.
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Some explanations for the exit suggested that the club had only now dealt extensively with the Super League after harsh criticism.
For example, Chelsea FC said: “Having joined the group late last week, we have now had time to look into the matter in depth and we have decided that our continued participation in these plans is not in the best interests of the club , our fans and the wider football community. ”The US businessman and owner of Liverpool FC also admitted a big mistake:" I would like to apologize to all Liverpool FC fans for the breaks that have occurred over the past 48 hours, "said John W. Henry.
"Clubs made big mistakes"
Why this insight did not already prevail when spinning the competition for the Champions League remains the secret of the protagonists.
The fact that in some places the clubs buckled after violent protests by their supporters at least shows that the romantic idea that fans can still exert influence has not died these days.
Chelsea FC fans protest at Stamford Bridge in London on Tuesday
Source: AP
Aleksander Ceferin also felt relief. The Uefa President had initially brought out heavy artillery and threatened the Super League deviants with the exclusion from all European competitions. Now, after a total of ten out of twelve founding members either canceled or at least expressed major doubts, the Slovenian welcomed the rapid development in his favor. "I said yesterday that it was admirable to admit a mistake and these clubs made a big mistake," said Ceferin. "But they are back in line now, and I know that they have a lot to offer not just our competitions, but the whole European game."
Nice side effect for the Uefa boss: his inflation of the Champions League from 2024, which was also scolded by fans, went almost uncritically at the beginning of the week in view of the vortex surrounding the elite division.