The European Super League

What is the Super League?

The Super League was an attempt at a competition between 12 of the best football teams in Europe. Real Madrid’s president, Florentino Pérez, is the president of it and was the main face of the competition. The aim of this project was to put these teams in a competition aside by themselves while still playing their regular matches. It involved no sporting merit whatsoever apart from 5 separate teams being able to join each season, meaning that the main 12 had a guaranteed spot every year. The teams involved were: Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United, Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea, AC Milan, Inter Milan, Juventus, Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid and Barcelona.

Why was it created?

The super league was created to make big games happen on a regular basis, as well as making the rich teams richer. Often times, the major European competition, UEFA Champions League, include fewer appealing games, but even the smaller teams that play in the competition earned their right to be there. This is what football is all about. Florentino Pérez said “16-24 year old’s are not interested in football anymore”, which is a complete false statement. The attempt at this creation was just pure greed from the owners of the clubs who wanted in.

Why did it collapse?

The collapse of the super league truly was brilliant. The whole football community went against it and proved that fans really own football. Some players like Bruno Fernandes and Daniel Podence spoke out against this which really had a major impact. The Super League didn’t have legs to stand on and the fact that it only lasted two days really proves that. Both UEFA and FIFA were against this idea and threatened clubs massively. Teams wouldn’t be able to play in their own domestic leagues anymore, or any continental competitions organized by these two organizations. The players who played for these clubs were also threatened to be prohibited from playing for their national teams. With all of this stacked against the newly formed competition, it was inevitable that it would fall and thankfully, it did.

R.I.P. European Super League

19/04/2021 – 21/04/2021

You will not be missed! #NoToSuperLeague

By: Duarte Marques Year 12