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HISTORY of the European Super League
Discussions about a league for all clubs across Europe started sometime long ago in the 1990s. It has been proposed to kick start in the 2023-2024 season. The idea has come under serious attack and backlash from football pundits and football lovers across the globe. It's not surprising FIFA and six other confederations including the popular UEFA have rejected the idea.
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This league seeks to draw clubs from all the leagues across Europe: English Premier League, clubs from Spain, Italy, France and Germany have all been invited. FIFA has come out to rule that any club or player that participates in such a league will be banned from any competition organized by FIFA or any of the 6 confederations (AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBOL, AFC AND UEFA).
The Modus Operandi
The proposed style and how this league will be played is still not understood by many but here is a quick guide.
The league will be a 20 team breakaway league with matches to be played midweek and an end of season playoff to determine the winners.
There are 15 'big clubs' who are now founding members of the league and they cannot be relegated from the league. An additional 5 clubs will be entitled to qualify each season.
The 20 clubs will be split into 2 grouows of 10 with each club playing 18 games, 9 home games and 10 away games.
Clubs that come up in the top 3 of each group will automatically qualify for the last eight knockout stage. Teams finishing fourth and fifth will in each group will then play off to fill the remaining 2 slots in the last eight knockout stage.
On April 18 2021, it was reported that 12 clubs in England, Spain and Italy have agreed to play the league. England will have the largest contingent with Liverpool and United joined by Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspurs. Spain will also be represented by Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid and Barcelona. Juventus, Inter Milan and AC Milan will be coming in from Italy too. There are 3 slots yet to be filled to make up the 15 club founding members as proposed.
There are reports that each team will earn over $400million for entering the competition making it look more lucrative than the already existing leagues.
However, the football federations in Germany and France are strongly against this idea and you see clubs from these countries come out to declare their intentions not to be a part of this.
The coming into force of the Super League will change football greatly. What are your views about it?