“A crime against football”: mega criticism of the Super League

Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham from England. In addition, Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid and FC Barcelona from Spain as well as Inter Milan, Juventus Turin and AC Milan from Italy. This dozen declared themselves as participants in the new league. Three more clubs are to join as founding members. Five more clubs are expected to take part via qualification. The game will be played in two groups of ten in the middle of the week before going into a knockout phase. The season should start “as soon as possible,” it was said.

The teams announced talks with UEFA and FIFA. As a precaution, however, according to the AP news agency, legal steps have already been taken to prevent the international associations from interfering. This is said to have been communicated to UEFA and FIFA in a letter. For their part, they had sharply criticized the founding of the new league and announced that they would take all measures to prevent competition.

“We will help football at every level and bring it to its rightful place in the world. Football is the only global sport in the world with more than four billion fans and our responsibility as big clubs is to respond to their desires," Real boss Florentino Perez, who is said to be chairman of the new Superliga, was quoted as saying. Florentino Perez is to become chairman of the new Super League. © APA/afp / GABRIEL BOUYS

The founding associations should initially have 3,5 billion euros at their disposal. As usual, the largest part of the income will probably come from the marketing of TV rights. The clubs also want to make solidarity payments. The US bank JP Morgan has already announced that it will act as financier. Full broadside against the Super League The plans for a super league were leaked on Sunday and caused harsh criticism. UEFA and the national leagues reacted with a sharp threat. UEFA announced that the clubs would be excluded from all further competitions and their players would no longer be allowed to play for national teams. FIFA and the other continental associations had already announced this in the past.

“We would like to thank the clubs in other countries, especially the French and German clubs, who have refused to join in,” the UEFA statement also said. Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund or Paris Saint-Germain did not join the new elite league. President Emmanuel Macron made a statement from France. He said he “welcomes the position of the French clubs.” The Superliga threatens the principle of solidarity and sporting merit. Boris Johnson also joined the discussion The English Premier League warned its flagships against joining and pointed to the statutes that are intended to prevent exactly that. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson also joined the discussion and called the plans “damaging” for football. They would strike at the heart of national football and affect fans across the country, Johnson wrote on social media. “This is pure greed. They’re impostors.” Gary neville Gary Neville criticized the English clubs sharply. © SID / Stephen Wright

Gary Neville made it clear. The ex-captain of the “Red Devils” noted that he has been a supporter of Manchester United for 40 years. The English clubs involved in the project would betray their own history and their fans, said Neville. “This is pure greed. They are impostors,” said the TV expert Sky Sports . He spoke of a “criminal act against the fans”, the affected clubs should have their points deducted and also be placed at the bottom of the league table.

Neville continued that the timing in the middle of the corona pandemic was terrible. “What world do these people actually live in if they think they can pull this off at this point?” He is by no means against money in football, “but the principles and ethics are those of fair competition,” said the former national player. There was sharp criticism from the European fan network Football Supporters Europe (FSE). “This closed competition will be the final nail in the coffin of European football, destroying everything that has made it so popular and successful,” it said in a statement. <a data-caption="Juve-Boss Andrea Agnelli gehört neben Perez (Real Madrid) und Joel Glazer (Manchester United) dem Vorstand der Super League an. © APA/afp / MARCO BERTORELLO" data-fancybox="inline-75988" target="_image" href="https://s3-images.sportnews.bz/_images/scale/1280x1280/img/2021/04/juve-boss-andrea-agnelli-gehoert-neben-perez-real-madrid-und-joel-glazer-manchester-united-dem-vorstand-der-super-league-an.jpg"> Juve boss Andrea Agnelli is on the Super League board alongside Perez (Real Madrid) and Joel Glazer (Manchester United). © APA/afp / MARCO BERTORELLO

The league's announcement came just ahead of the European Football Union's upcoming executive session in Montreux on Monday. There, UEFA wanted to decide to increase the number of participants in the Champions League from 32 to 36 and to introduce a new mode. This should apply from the 2024/25 season. But the top European clubs have other plans. The press also criticizes it The press also criticized the plans of these clubs: “The Super League that he (Juve boss Andrea Agnelli) is promoting would benefit the interests of his club rather than the general interests of Serie A. A parallel tournament between some representatives of the European club Adels would only flush money into the coffers of the clubs involved. “The Super League is in contradiction to the attempt to revalue the Italian championship and even more so to the project of the new Champions League, which plans to expand the competition to 2024 teams from 36,” wrote, for example Sports Gazette. “A closed society is a crime against football.” Rudi Voller Bayer Leverkusen's sports director Rudi Völler also criticized the twelve clubs' plans for a European Super League in clear words. “A closed society is a crime against football,” said the 1990 world champion BILD and Sports picture and particularly criticized Liverpool FC, coached by Jürgen Klopp: “For a club where the fans sing “You’ll never walk alone,” that’s shameful.” English football fans are outraged Football fans in England have reacted with outrage and disappointment to their clubs' planned participation in the new Super League. The fan organization Chelsea Supporters' Trust spoke of “unforgivable” plans that were driven by greed. “Our members and football fans worldwide have experienced the ultimate betrayal,” the association said. The umbrella organization of Tottenham supporters spoke of “betrayal of the club”. “The future of our club is at stake.” The Champions League would become less attractive with the introduction of the Super League. © APA/afp / DENIS CHARLET

Spirit of Shankly, a supporter group for champions Liverpool FC, stressed that club owners Fenway Sports Group had ignored fans in their "relentless and greedy pursuit of money". “Football belongs to us, not them.” The umbrella organization of the supporters of record champions Manchester United called on the club to abandon the plans. “A “Super League” that is a closed event of self-selected rich clubs goes against everything that football and Manchester United should be,” emphasized the Manchester United Supporters' Trust. The Arsenal Fans' Association wrote: "This means the death of everything football should be about."

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“A crime against football”: mega criticism of the Super League

The heavyweights of European football are getting serious. Twelve top clubs from England, Spain and Italy want to establish a European “Super League” as soon as possible. Afterwards there was a hail of criticism from all sides.

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