Super League latest news: ESL’s new plan for football sparks anger and derision

A redesigned, open European Superliga could feature up to 80 teams in a multi-division format, said the competition’s chief executive.

The competition would be based solely on sporting achievement, with no permanent members, A22 managing director Bernd Reichart told German newspaper Die Welt.

Teams would be guaranteed at least 14 games per season, Reichart wrote.

A22, a company set up to sponsor and support the formation of the Super League, has consulted with almost 50 European clubs since October last year and, based on that consultation, developed 10 principles that shaped its plans for a redesign underpin the league.

In news that will no doubt tease and worry football fans across the continent, the prospect of a European Super League has reared its ugly head once again as the sport’s biggest clubs appear determined to push through with this widely despised idea.

With ESL 2021 shattered by a rare moment of unity, albeit in the form of searing anger, from football fans, ESL is keen to tell you why this time is different.

With up to 80 teams, multiple divisions and a guaranteed 14 games per season, Bernd Reichart, the managing director of A22 in charge of promoting the ESL, has outlined the framework for a tastier league to the German newspaper The world.

But will it happen this time? Here’s what we know so far about the revived European Super League:

it’s back After being sent home by the searing fury of football fans, the 2021 European Super League is dying to tell you why this time is different.

The message obviously wasn’t clear enough before, so the latest murmurs come as a fresh slap in the face to fans who are now routinely ignored by those in power.

There is a strange assumption that the ESL can save the very foundations of European football, which Reichart claims are “in danger of collapsing”.

Jack Rathborn comments on today’s big news:

Barcelona president Joan Laporta remains optimistic about the Super League’s prospects and believes it could spring into action within the next two years.

“This spring we will have the verdict on the Super League. For clubs it will be similar to the Bosman ruling [which allowed footballers to move on a free transfer at the end of their contracts] intended for gamers,” Laporta told Cadena SER Radio last month.

“If the decision is positive, the Super League could become a reality by 2025. If not, the steps we take will depend on what the verdict says. The level of victory will determine what we can do with the Super League.”

A22 said 10 principles emerged from the discussions, including improving competitiveness, financial sustainability and fan experience.

The ongoing court case is over whether the statutes of European governing body UEFA and global governing body FIFA, which allow them to block competing events and ban clubs and players from participating, comply with EU competition rules.

The Football Supporters’ Association, which represents fans in England and Wales and is a co-founder of the European fan base, said the ESL plan had no support from the continent’s supporters.

“The walking corpse that is the European Super League is flinching again with all that zombie confidence,” FSA chief Kevin Miles said in a statement.

“Their latest idea is to have an ‘open competition’ instead of the closed store they initially suggested, which led to huge fan protests. Of course, there is already an open competition for Europe’s top clubs – it’s called the Champions League.”

Spain’s La Liga president Javier Tebas, a staunch opponent of the ESL, said the plan would only favor big clubs.

“The Super League is the wolf who dresses up as granny today to fool European football but his nose and his teeth are very big,” Tebas wrote on Twitter on Thursday.

“Four divisions in Europe? Of course, the first for them, as in the 2019 reform. Government of the clubs? Only the big ones, of course.”

A future European Super League could feature up to 80 teams, said Bernd Reichart, the chief executive of A22 Sports Management, a company set up to sponsor and assist the creation of a breakaway football league, on Thursday.

In a statement outlining the preliminary results of talks A22 had held with allegedly 50 European clubs and football stakeholders, the company said changes were needed.

“The vast majority of them agree that the foundations of European football are under threat and that it is time for change,” said A22.

“Feedback points to an open European football league based solely on sporting merit, multidivisional with 60 to 80 clubs and at least 14 guaranteed European games per club.”

Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus were among 12 clubs to announce a breakaway Super League in April 2021. But the move fell through within 48 hours after an outcry from fans, governments and players Manchester United, Liverpool, Manchester City, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal, AC Milan, Inter Milan and Atletico Madrid all drop out.

That left only Real, Barcelona and Juventus as losers. ESL took their case to a Spanish court, which subsequently asked the Luxembourg-based Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) for advice.

“Our goal is to present a sustainable sport project for European club competitions, available at least to all 27 EU member states, as soon as possible after receiving the verdict,” said Reichart.

“The issues are clear and action needs to be taken for the benefit of fans, players and clubs.”

“The walking corpse twitches again with all that self-awareness…[of] a zombie”.

The FSA doesn’t take a hit with its statement on the revived Super League.

They call the new proposals “willfully ignorant of the disdain that supporters across the continent have for them.”

Lots of comments and, shall we say, mockery at the idea of ​​extended leagues – almost as if a ‘Best of Europe’ structure with different tiers already exists.

The lack of detail offered by the manifesto also gives cause for criticism.