One article to understand the European Super League changes: the resurgence of Real Madrid and Barcelona, the lonely mansion in the air
The Court of Justice of the European Union ruled on the alleged monopoly of European football by FIFA and UEFA, in violation of EU antitrust law by UEFA and FIFA's rule that inter-club football matches require their prior approval.
The birth and bankruptcy of the European Super League
On April 19, 2021, AC Milan, Arsenal, Atletico Madrid, Chelsea, Barcelona, Inter Milan, Juventus, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Real Madrid and Tottenham Hotspur officially announced the establishment of the European Super League, referred to as the "European Super League".
The president of the Super League is Real Madrid's Florentino, with Arsenal's Kroenke, Juventus' Agnelli, Manchester United's Glazer and Liverpool's John Henry as vice-presidents.
However, in just 2 days, 9 teams in the Premier League BIG6, Atletico Madrid, and Milan announced their withdrawal from the European Super League and signed the "Club Commitment Declaration" with UEFA. And the main reason for their withdrawal is the strong resistance of fans and the opposition and threat of punishment from UEFA, national football associations, and professional leagues of various countries.
On May 31, 2021, the UEFA Super League formally sued UEFA and FIFA. On April 21, 2022, the Madrid court overturned the previous judgment of "prohibiting sanctions against the European Super League", and the three royal Savin families appealed. However, on December 15, the European Court of Justice issued a statement saying that FIFA's rules on the approval of new tournaments are in line with EU competition law.
On January 31 of this year, A22, the European Super League promotion and operation company, won an appeal in the Madrid court, and the European Super League could not be punished by UEFA or FIFA. In February, the European Super League announced that it would launch a multi-level competition consisting of 60-80 teams.
In July this year, Juventus started the process of withdrawing from the European Super League, which means that the only founding teams of the European Super League are Real Madrid and Barcelona. On December 21, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that UEFA and FIFA had violated EU antitrust laws, and that the European Super League does not have to be approved by UEFA and FIFA.
EU Judgment Results
The Court of Justice of the European Union held that the rules set by FIFA and UEFA that require the approval of any new inter-club football program and prohibit clubs and players from participating in these competitions are contrary to competition law and freedom of service provision.
The organization of inter-club football matches and the exploitation of media rights are economic activities that must comply with the rules of competition and respect freedom of movement, even if the economic pursuits of sport have certain characteristics, such as the existence of associations with certain regulatory and control powers and the power to impose sanctions.
When a dominant enterprise has the power to determine the terms of market access, the conditions under which a potential competitor can enter the market must be governed by transparent, objective, non-discriminatory and proportionate criteria. However, FIFA and UEFA are not limited by such standards, so they abuse their dominance.
However, this does not mean that competitions such as the European Super League are necessarily approved. The court has already conducted a general review of the FIFA and UEFA rules in its judgment, but has not ruled on that particular item.
New European Super League plan
Following the ruling, A22, the UEFA Super League promotion and operation company, announced plans for a new UEFA Super League. The new European Super League will consist of 64 clubs, divided into three divisions: Star League (16 teams), Golden League (16 teams) and Blue League (32 teams).
All clubs will play in groups of eight – home and away – with a minimum of 14 guaranteed games per year. The top four teams from each group in the Star League and Golden League, as well as the top two teams in each group of the Blue League, will advance to the knockout stage for the quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals, and the winner will be the winner of the Star League, Golden League and Blue League respectively.
The two teams that reached the final of the Golden League were promoted to the Star League, with the last of the two groups in the Star League relegated to the Golden League. The two teams that reach the final of the Blue League are promoted to the Golden League, with the last of the two groups in the Golden League relegated to the Blue League. At the end of each season, 20 teams in the Blue League leave the European Super League, and the replacement will be replaced by another club based on their domestic league performance.
There are several principles of the new UEFA Super League: participation based on sporting merit, no permanent membership, teams remain in their home leagues, and UEFA Super League matches are played on weekdays without interfering with the domestic league.
"We will create a more open European competition with more than 60 clubs to ensure that every club is treated fairly and equitably," said Resaud, CEO of the European Super League. I would like to tell fans that our recommendation is to stream all European Super League matches for free. For the club, both income and solidarity money are guaranteed. ”
According to previous media reports, investors pay 15 billion euros to launch a new version of the European Super League, and they will receive 15% of the profits, and the participating teams will distribute the remaining 85% of the profits. As the founders of the European Super League, Real Madrid and Barcelona will also receive additional rewards, with both teams receiving around 1 billion euros.
The new UEFA Super League solution solves several "pain points": more teams participate rather than just the big clubs, multi-level leagues with upward channels, fans can watch live broadcasts for free, and clubs can earn huge income.
The new European Super League is still opposed
However, can the European Super League really make a comeback? At least, it still faces the opposition of the majority.
UEFA responded: "The ruling does not imply recognition or endorsement of the so-called Premier League, on the contrary, it highlights a pre-existing flaw in UEFA's pre-authorisation framework, a technical aspect that was recognized and addressed in June 2022." UEFA is confident in the robustness of its new rules, in particular that they comply with all relevant European laws and regulations. ”
UEFA president Ceferin said: "I don't see any possibility with the idea of a European Super League, at least for the next two or three decades. Al-Nassr, president of the European Club Association and president of Grand Paris, also said: "I call the idea a non-superligacy, we are united like never before, and they want to divide us. ”
La Liga official issued a statement: "We reiterate once again: this ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union does not approve the European Super League. The CJEU has stated: 'This does not mean that competitions like the Super League programme must be approved. 'We urge the European Commission to activate the necessary mechanisms to introduce legislative measures to protect European football from similar attacks in the future. ”
La Liga president Tebas took a tough stance: "It's time to remind A22 of the story of Little Red Riding Hood and the wolf that we shared a few months ago. They still keep lying about taking pills. Football doesn't want the Europa League in April 2021 and crooks in December 2023. ”
The Premier League official issued a statement: "The ruling does not recognise the so-called European Super League, and the Premier League continues to reject any such concept." Fans are essential to the game of football, and they have repeatedly and clearly expressed their opposition to such competitions, which have severed the link between domestic football and European football. ”
Italian Football Federation president Gravina said: "As a Football Association, we are firmly opposed to this project, and there are rules that say that any team that adheres to the European Super League plan will be kicked out of the Italian Football Federation. We can't stop any team from participating, but their choices will speak for them. ”
Ernqvist, secretary general of the Swedish Football Association, criticized: "It's really disgusting, we are firmly opposed to the new European Super League plan, which will make European football a plaything controlled by capital like the NHL, an oligarch." It will make it more difficult for us to emerge and take away a large part of the income we would otherwise deserve. ”
For Bayern, who have never been in the European Super League, CEO and vice president of the European Club Association, Dresson, said: "A match like this is an attack on the importance of the national league and the ecology of European football. The doors of FC Bayern to participate in the European Super League remain closed. ”
Rummenigge said: "No one in Germany will be in the Super League, there will be no progress in the European Super League. Teams from England, Germany and France will never participate. Then Real Madrid and Barcelona will be able to play on their own. The European Super League will turn Serie A into the second division and the Bundesliga into the second division. ”
Borussia Dortmund also issued a statement: "Regardless of the discussion around the verdict, the following will not change: we will not play in the European Super League. "In no way support any so-called Super League project, as it would be a serious blow to the importance of the national league and the foundations of European football," Roma said. ”
Lyon in Ligue 1, Porto in the Portuguese Super League, Salzburg in Austria, and Celtic in the Soviet Super League have all made it clear that they oppose the European Super League and support UEFA.
What about the founding teams of the European Super League who have withdrawn? According to Ben Jacobs, 20 Premier League clubs have agreed to oppose the European Super League.
In fact, this year, the British government has launched a "White Paper on Football Governance", which sets up an independent regulator with the power to prevent English clubs from participating in new competitions that do not meet predetermined standards, and will take measures to prevent clubs from participating in closed competitions that harm domestic competitions.
The UK Department of Culture, Media and Sport also issued a statement highlighting the government's plan to pass legislation to prevent Premier League teams from participating in competitions similar to the European Super League.
Liverpool have also set up a supporter committee which has the power to approve any future competition in which the club participates. Boss Jurgen Klopp said: "I'm not a supporter of the Premier League, I'm almost trying to find out more about where they come from, there's no perfect solution, the Super League is certainly not a perfect solution. ”
Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur have also issued official statements saying that their position of withdrawing from the European Super League remains unchanged and they will continue to participate in UEFA competitions.
A lonely mansion in the air
British fans have always been the most traditional and attach the most importance to the social and community attributes of the team, so they are the most fiercely opposed to the European Super League, which is also the most direct reason why big6 quickly withdrew from the European Super League and the bosses publicly apologized.
What's more, the Premier League giants have made money through new broadcast contracts, although no one will think that there is a lot of money, but it also depends on how big the risk is, whether it picks up sesame seeds and loses watermelons. Therefore, it is almost impossible for Real Madrid and Barcelona to bring the Premier League giants back to the European Super League.
Atletico Madrid also stood in opposition to Real Sa, with an official statement saying: "The European football family has rejected the European Super League, with Germany, France, England, Italy, Spain (except Real Sa) and other countries rejecting the European Super League." We support the protection of the European football family, the protection of domestic leagues, and the league that determines European qualification every season. ”
In fact, all 18 La Liga teams except Real Sa have expressed their opposition to the European Super League, and the two have been completely isolated within Spanish football.
In addition, the Champions League is directly competing and competing, but the Champions League will begin to reform next season and adopt a new format, and the club's income will increase day by day, so the European Super League will not be so attractive. What's more, Huangsa occupies the majority of the capital, and it is clear that he wants to be the boss in the European Super League, how can other giants be convinced?
What's more, the football associations of all countries are in the same boat as UEFA, just like the president of the Italian Football Federation said, if you dare to play in the European Super League, you will be expelled from the Football Association, and if you are not registered, you will naturally not be able to play in the domestic league.
Another point is that the European Super League can really invest a huge amount of money for a long time? 15 billion euros is not a small number, not to mention that countless "15 billion" will be needed in the future. And if something similar to what we have experienced in the past three years happens, and the economy of football and the whole world is hit hard again, will the European Super League really survive without the official endorsement of FIFA, UEFA and other countries?
To sum up, without the participation of most of the giants in the five major leagues, and if there is no opposition from the national football associations, even if the European Super League is nominally born, it will not be able to play at all, Real Madrid and Barcelona are still the loners, and the so-called Super League is just a castle in the air.