European Super League: Fresh plans for 80-team competition announced by chief executive Bernd Reichart | Football News
A new-look European Super League would be based on sporting performance only with no permanent members, A22 chief executive Bernd Reichart told German newspaper Die Welt; teams would be guaranteed a minimum of 14 matches per season; La Liga call plans “selfish” and “greed-driven”
A new-look, open European Super League could contain up to 80 teams in a multi-divisional format, the competition’s chief executive has said.
The competition would be based on sporting performance only with no permanent members, A22 chief executive Bernd Reichart told German newspaper Die Welt.
Teams would be guaranteed a minimum of 14 matches per season, Reichart wrote.
A22, a company formed to sponsor and assist with the creation of the Super League, has consulted with nearly 50 European clubs since October last year and developed 10 principles based on that consultation which underpin its plans for a new-look league.
Reichart wrote: “The foundations of European football are in danger of collapsing.
“It’s time for a change. It is the clubs that bear the entrepreneurial risk in football. But when important decisions are at stake, they are too often forced to sit idly by on the sidelines as the sporting and financial foundations crumble around them.
“Our talks have also made it clear that clubs often find it impossible to speak out publicly against a system that uses the threat of sanctions to thwart opposition.
“Our dialogue was open, honest, constructive and resulted in clear ideas about what changes are needed and how they could be implemented. There is a lot to do and we will continue our dialogue.”
However, in a damning response to the new proposals, LaLiga said in a statement: “The Super League is the wolf in the story of Little Red Riding Hood.
“It is disguising itself as an open and meritocratic competition, but underneath there is still the same selfish, elitist and greed-driven project. Don’t let their tales fool you.”
A timeline of how the first version of the European Super League fell apart as all six Premier League clubs withdrew from the competition in a chaotic 48 hours
A22 has challenged UEFA and FIFA’s right to block the formation of the Super League and sanction the competing clubs in the courts, arguing the governing bodies are abusing a dominant position under EU competition law.
The European Court of Justice is due to give its final ruling in the case later this year, but a non-binding opinion delivered by the Advocate General in the case in December said rules allowing UEFA and FIFA to block the formation of new competitions was compatible with EU law.
Reichart said the new-look Super League would be an open competition, with qualification achieved via performance at national level and with all its teams competing in their domestic leagues.
Those national leagues would remain “the foundation” of the game, Reichart said, and argued that the new Super League would generate new revenues to support the entire pyramid.
The guarantee of a minimum of 14 matches, Reichart says, would provide “stablility and predictability” of revenue.
Reichart set out plans for cost control measures, saying clubs should spend only a fixed percentage of their annual football-related revenue on player salaries and net transfers.
“Club spending must be based solely on the funds generated and not on competitively distorting capital injections,” he wrote.
What has already happened?
In October, Reichart revealed the new-look European Super League could be up and running by the 2024/25 season.
Asked then if that was the earliest the failed project could start up again, Reichart said: “That might be the first reasonable and realistic call but there are so many variables that I can’t actually foresee. That is probably the first realistic call.”
The European Super League was initially launched in April 2021 with 12 founding members – Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham, AC Milan, Inter Milan, Juventus, Atletico Madrid, Barcelona and Real Madrid – who would permanently take part in the competition.
The plan quickly collapsed after the six Premier League clubs pulled out in the face of fierce criticism from supporters, pundits, clubs and the media, but Juventus, Barcelona and Real Madrid remain committed to the concept.
Permanent membership of the European Super League for the founding members was a significant point of criticism, but Reichart previously said: “There has been an important reassessment and the concept is spreading out about openness and taking the permanent membership off the table. I can say the three clubs have credibly reassessed and taken some learnings from the first approach.
“I am aware of what the English clubs stated a year and a half ago, but I hope the whole football community is appreciating the approach to continue to care and try to come up with solutions.”
The Premier League referred to their statement from June 2021 when contacted by Sky Sports News.
