On the Super League gravestone, the birth and death dates are ruthless: April-2020, April-2020.
In less than 48 hours, this private competition project carried by twelve major dissident clubs set fire to the powder in the world of European football ... before dying his death in front of the general outcry and the defection of the clubs.
Story of these two days when a coup d'etat almost transformed European football before transforming into Bérézina.
• Sunday April 18, 3:19 p.m. (GMT)
The rumor returned periodically, which had prompted the European Football Union (UEFA) and the International Federation (Fifa) to publish an unusual joint statement in January: the two bodies threatened with sanction any possible secessionists wishing to develop a private European competition. and competitor of the Champions League, UEFA's flagship event since 1955.
But on Sunday, the threat becomes clearer as the European body is preparing to adopt the next day a reform of the C1, however more favorable to the big clubs.
At 5:19 p.m., sensing the imminent formalization of the Super League project, UEFA drew a preventive press release threatening to exclude from all national and international competition the clubs which would participate in a private league, as well as their players.
A rare occurrence in sports, an area where the Elysee usually remains in the background, the French presidency also denounces a project "threatening the principle of solidarity and sporting merit".
• Sunday, April 18, 10:01 p.m.
A three-page press release, with the header "The Super League", falls into journalists' mailboxes and has the effect of a bomb: twelve clubs among the richest (Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atlético Madrid, Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool, Tottenham, Arsenal, Chelsea, Juventus Turin, Inter Milan and AC Milan) announce their competition is almost closed, with 15 full members and five guests each season.
This time, the Super League seems concrete, far from being this sea serpent periodically revived by the big clubs to obtain more concessions.
• Monday, April 19, 11:27 a.m.
The dissident clubs are ready to go into action: in a letter obtained by AFP, the Super League warns UEFA and Fifa that it has taken the courts to "ensure the establishment and functioning without a hitch of the competition ".
• Monday, April 19, 12:42 p.m.
UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin appears at a press conference, dark suit and closed face, after an executive committee of the instance.
The Slovenian lawyer does not mince his words: the Super League is "a shameful proposition" of a few "snakes" only "guided by greed", "a spit in the face of all football lovers".
Aleksander Čeferin: "Those clubs who think they are big and untouchable today should remember where they came from. And they should realize that if they are European giants today, it is partly thanks to UEFA…" #UEFACongress
- UEFA (@UEFA) April 20, 2021
On a more personal level, the betrayal is immensely painful for him: he is the godfather of one of the children of Andrea Agnelli, the boss of Juventus, one of the dissident clubs!
The latter, after having assured him at the beginning of the weekend that the rumors of secession should not be believed, turned his jacket over, suddenly becoming unreachable by his former friend.
Ceferin then promises a response and announces in passing the adoption of the reform of the Champions League, as if nothing had happened.
• Monday April 19, 3:30 p.m.
Faced with the miraculous income promised by the promoters of the Super League, the financial markets are rubbing their hands.
>> To read also: Less risks and more money: the real objective of the clubs for the "Super league"
The action of Juventus Turin closes sharply on Monday late afternoon (+ 17%) while that of Manchester United is progressing significantly in New York.
• Monday, April 19, 10:03 p.m.
Florentino Pérez, all-powerful boss of Real Madrid and new president of the Super League, gives his first interview in Spain: he considers "impossible" that dissident clubs are excluded and defends his project.
>> To read also: Super league project: Florentino Perez and Andrea Agnelli, the "brain" and the "traitor"
"The new Champions League is supposed to start in 2024";
by then, with the pandemic, "all the clubs will be dead!"
pleads Pérez.
• Tuesday April 20, 8:38 a.m.
Gianni Infantino, FIFA president who often disagrees with Ceferin, provides notable support to UEFA: before the congress of the European body, the leader castigates the rebels who "will have to suffer the consequences" of their rupture.
In the process, the 55 member federations unanimously adopt a resolution condemning the Super League, even if Ceferin assures the mutineers that it is "still time to change their minds".
• Tuesday, April 20, 3:42 p.m.
The legal battle is becoming clearer: in a summary decision, a Madrid commercial court bans UEFA and Fifa from any measure against the launch of the Super League, pending a decision on the merits of the case .
• Tuesday, April 20, 5:45 p.m.
Incredible turnaround: several British media, including the BBC, are starting to talk about the hesitations of certain dissident clubs, or even their desire to withdraw.
At the same time, hundreds of angry supporters from different English clubs gather on the outskirts of Stamford Bridge, the home of Chelsea, one of the rebels.
• Tuesday, April 20, 7:19 p.m.
Under pressure, Manchester City are the first to give in, announcing "to withdraw from the group responsible for developing the European Super League project".
Club statement.https: //t.co/GeNQZn8091
- Manchester City (@ManCity) April 20, 2021
A turnaround for which Aleksander Ceferin immediately said he was "delighted".
• Tuesday, April 20, 9:55 p.m.
In turn, the other five English clubs follow in City's footsteps, gradually emptying the Super League of its substance.
"We made a mistake, and we apologize," Arsenal summed up on Twitter.
Liverpool boss John Henry will also ask for forgiveness the next day.
John W Henry's message to Liverpool supporters.
pic.twitter.com/pHW3RbOcKu
- Liverpool FC (@LFC) April 21, 2021
Faced with these stinging setbacks, the promoters of the Super League falter and declare that they want to "reshape the project", they write in a press release released in the middle of the night.
• Wednesday, April 21, 9:29 a.m.
Agnelli, one of the figures of secession, goes to the obvious: the president of Juventus believes that the project cannot exist without the six English clubs, we learn from his entourage, while the stock market title of Juve unscrews on the Milan Stock Exchange.
Shortly after, Atlético Madrid and Inter Milan, soon followed by AC Milan, in turn formalized their withdrawal from the project, a new nail in the coffin of the Super League.
With AFP
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