The Super League: Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus refuse to surrender
A new page of confrontation between the remaining clubs of the founders of the separatist Super League and UEFA opened after Barcelona, Real Madrid and Juventus, Italy, on Saturday defended the advantages of the competition, denouncing Wifa's threats.
The three clubs did not give up about three weeks after the demise of their project, less than 48 hours after its launch, in light of international, political and public protests.
Despite the withdrawal of nine out of 12 clubs that established the Super League project last April to face the Champions League, Barcelona and Real Madrid (Spain) and Juventus (Italy) intend to “persevere in the search for appropriate solutions, despite the unacceptable pressures and threats from WEFA,” according to a statement. A joint published by the three clubs on their official websites.
In their statement, the clubs said that the Super League was launched "with the aim of providing solutions to the current unsustainable situation in the football industry".
On Friday, Wifa announced light financial penalties against Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United, Tottenham, Manchester City and Liverpool, in addition to Milan, Inter and Atletico Madrid, which "collectively agreed to pay 15 million euros (18.25 million dollars) and give up." Over 5 percent of its revenue over an entire season, "this amount is allocated to young people and roots in Europe.
The Confederation imposed a fine of 100 million euros in the event that these clubs repeat the idea of re-joining an unauthorized competition, and 50 million euros in the event of retreating from their obligations.
The statement of the three clubs doubted that the nine withdrawals "shared the same concerns ... that structural reforms are necessary to ensure that our sport remains attractive and sustainable in the long run."
"We regret seeing our friends and founding partners of the Super League project finding themselves in such an inconsistent and contradictory position when they signed a number of commitments to FIFA yesterday," the statement continued.
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