The soccer world is shaken beyond disbelief, as over the past 12 hours or so, the biggest clubs in Europe have threatened the status quo like no one had done before, creating an independent competition outside of UEFA and FIFA.
Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, Liverpool, Juventus, among others; decided to join forces to form the 'European Super League', consisting of 20 teams (15 founding teams + 5 that qualify based on achievements).
The aforementioned clubs would be getting a massive sum of money UEFA simply can't compete with, and the fact that they did this behind their backs was infuriating to the European organization.
(Transcript via Real Madrid)
"Twelve of Europe’s leading football clubs have today come together to announce they have agreed to establish a new mid-week competition, the Super League, governed by its Founding Clubs.
AC Milan, Arsenal FC, Atlético de Madrid, Chelsea FC, FC Barcelona, FC Internazionale Milano, Juventus FC, Liverpool FC, Manchester City, Manchester United, Real Madrid CF and Tottenham Hotspur have all joined as Founding Clubs. It is anticipated that a further three clubs will join ahead of the inaugural season, which is intended to commence as soon as practicable.
Going forward, the Founding Clubs look forward to holding discussions with UEFA and FIFA to work together in partnership to deliver the best outcomes for the new League and for football as a whole.
The formation of the Super League comes at a time when the global pandemic has accelerated the instability in the existing European football economic model. Further, for a number of years, the Founding Clubs have had the objective of improving the quality and intensity of existing European competitions throughout each season, and of creating a format for top clubs and players to compete on a regular basis.
The pandemic has shown that a strategic vision and a sustainable commercial approach are required to enhance value and support for the benefit of the entire European football pyramid. In recent months extensive dialogue has taken place with football stakeholders regarding the future format of European competitions. The Founding Clubs believe the solutions proposed following these talks do not solve fundamental issues, including the need to provide higher-quality matches and additional financial resources for the overall football pyramid."
Funniest Memes And Reactions To The European Super League
UEFA and FIFA threatened to ban all clubs and players from taking part in any of their competitions, including domestic tournaments, and even the upcoming FIFA World Cup in Qatar next year.
That, plus the fact that this tournament is only going to widen the gap between the biggest clubs in the world and those from smaller markets really infuriated its fans, up to the point that they claimed that their clubs were dead.
It's unlikely that this situation is going to escalate. UEFA and FIFA can't afford to lose the biggest clubs on earth, and those clubs - and players - won't agree with that ban, so we'll have to follow this situation closely.
