According to Tasnim news agency, it was the last days of February of this year that the European Super League was finally announced with the presence of 12 founding clubs, but due to pressure from UEFA and FIFA, 6 Premier League teams: Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham. The tournament was canceled, prompting the organizers of the ambitious project to suspend it 48 hours after the league was officially announced. Inter, Atletico Madrid, Juventus, Milan and Barcelona also withdrew from the tournament, but the three clubs Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus did not give up trying to realize their dream of holding the tournament and now, less than a year later From this issue, they intend to run the European Super League in a different format.
The Italian newspaper “Gazzetta dello Sport” reported in this regard; Juventus president Andrea Anelli plans to unveil a new European Super League project today (Thursday) during the Football Business Summit organized by the Financial Times in London. According to this report; This project will be slightly different from the main project and will be similar to the European League of Nations and will have ups and downs. It is possible that 24 clubs will compete directly each season based on the results of previous European competitions, in addition to the eight teams that have qualified for the league. It is unknown at this time what he will do after leaving the post.
“I have to say that those who are talking about the Super League, They do not talk about football. I’m tired of this non-soccer project. First, they came up with the idea in the midst of an epidemic (Covid-19). We are now reading articles in which they intend to launch another idea in the midst of the war (the Russia-Ukraine war). Do I need to talk more about these people? They obviously live in a parallel world.
He added: “They can pay anyone (journalists) who wants to pay to write to them, ‘This is a good project and full of solidarity, and it will help smaller clubs.’ But this is nonsense and everyone knows it. One of them (the manager of a Super League club) called me and apologized after the failure of the initial Super League project, but returned to the project. In their view, they are customer fans. For us, the fans are the fans.
“They criticized UEFA and the European Club Association (ECA), one of which was the ECA president,” he said, referring directly to the Juventus president. I have quotes from a place he used to describe the European Clubs Union system a week before the launch of the Super League. They (Super Leagues) can play in their tournament, no one forbids them to do so, but if they play in their tournament, they can no longer play in our tournament (Champions League).
Javier Tebas, the president of the Spanish La Liga organization, who from the beginning had a similar position to the president of UEFA, also attacked the president of Juventus at the meeting and said: he (Anelli) should explain the new idea of holding the European Super League, if he does not explain, he is lying. One week ago, I think it was at his house that the three clubs met. Now they say they do not want a stable position, Real Madrid says they do not want the first game which is a lie.
He added: “It is very difficult for English teams to participate in these competitions, so they are creating a European league with two categories and national leagues in the second category. Two or three teams will be relegated, but Juventus, Barcelona and Real Madrid will always be in the top tier. It will be difficult for these teams to be relegated. They have made UEFA and the Premier League enemies whose growth is contrary to their model. We know this, we have this information. They can say what they want, but that is what they are working on. Every time I read about the Super League, I think they lie more than Vladimir Putin.
The head of the La Liga organization continued his speech as follows: They insist that the new idea of the Super League will not affect the national leagues. We must be stupid or dumb to believe this. We all say that this harms the national leagues. In my opinion, this is an insult, I feel inferior. They will do great damage.
“Florentino Perez has already said he wanted to be in the Super League,” he told the Real Madrid president. The rest do not worry, they will only give us small change. In short, the Super League is a collection of clubs with assets and wealth that want to dominate the rest. They have been with this line for years, and this is something we should avoid.
Alexander Cheferin also condemned the Russian military attack on Ukraine and announced that the Russian women’s national football team would not participate in the European Championship to be held in England. He also stressed that UEFA is working around the clock to relocate foreign players and coaches caught in Ukraine, but that neither side can guarantee their safety.