The landscape of European football is about to undergo a seismic shift following yesterday’s revelations about the European Super League.
Twelve of Europe’s biggest clubs yesterday announced their intention to form the breakaway European Super League. The initiative involves 6 Premier League teams, and 3 of the biggest teams in both Spain and Italy.
From England, the teams breaking away are: Chelsea, Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur.
As well as that, Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid join them from Spain. Juventus, Inter Milan and A.C Milan will break away from Italy’s Serie A.
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No clubs from Ligue 1 in France or the Bundesliga in Germany are involved, yet.
The spectre of the European Super League has been looming in the background for quite some time. For the past decade, it has been reluctantly accepted by many fans that it is an inevitability.
However, yesterday’s announcement was a shock. The new competition is set to begin in August. Nobody expected it to happen quite so soon.
The timing of the announcement was also bizarre. News broke shortly after Arsenal’s 1 – 1 draw with Fulham, and midway through Man Utd VS Burnley.
The participating clubs released a joint statement on Sunday evening, to the outrage of governing bodies around Europe.
The Premier League, The F.A, UEFA, the Italian and Spanish F.A’s, La Liga and Serie A have all condemned the decision.
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The key figures here are John Henry, Malcolm Glazer and Stan Kroenke, the American owners of Liverpool, Manchester United and Arsenal. The NFL and NBA in the U.S are the same kind of closed shops, without promotion or relegation as the European Super League.
The ‘15 founding clubs’ will play in the new competition every year without risk of dropping out. With a reported £350 million award to every participating club, it will be as much of a cash cow as the American leagues.
Debate will undoubtedly be fierce this week, as football comes to terms with what this means for the game.
