Leeds United: Fresh European Super League proposals dubbed ‘wolf in disguise’ after relaunch

The European Super League has relaunched following its rapid collpase two years ago.

The Super League originally pitched a closed competition including only the historically elite clubs, and the Premier League’s ‘big six’ all signed up. After fan backlash, all of those clubs withdrew, as did every other club with the exception of Barcelona, Juventus and Real Madrid, and the president of the latter, Florentino Perez, was the main organiser behind the idea.

Since then, A22 Sports have been contracted to oversee the organising and promotion of the competition, which has been reshaped significantly. They have now announced a n ‘open competition’ that will feature 60 to 80 clubs and multiple divisions. It’s claimed the new competition will guarantee each participant at least 14 games per season.

A22 say they have held detailed conversations with clubs around Europe to come up with the new proposals. As part of the new arrangements, A22 say there would be greater solidarity payments for clubs who do not participate in European competitions. Naturally, they believe the new model would replace the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League.

The Champions League itself has caused a stir due to UEFA introducing a revised format which starts in 2024, including four extra teams and a league-like format instead of the traditional group stage model.

A22 chief executive Bernd Reichart wrote German newspaper Welt: “It is the clubs that bear the entrepreneurial risk in football. But when it comes to important decisions, they are too often forced to stand idly by from the sidelines as the sporting and financial foundations run under their hands. Our talks have also made it clear that it is often impossible for clubs to raise their voices publicly against a system that uses the threat of sanctions to prevent opposition.”

Barcelona, Juventus and Real Madrid all remain in legal battles over the European Super League, while UEFA continue to fight any and all variations of it. League chiefs such as La Liga’s Javier Tebas have also been vocal in fighting the proposals. Amid the fresh proposals, Tebas said on Twitter: “The Super League is a wolf, who today disguises itself as a granny to try to fool European football, but HIS nose and HIS teeth are very big, four divisions in Europe? Of course the first for them, as in the 2019 reform. Government of the clubs? Of course only the big ones.”

It will be interesting to see how clubs respond to the proposals, but the Liverpool Echo are already reporting that Liverpool are standing by their statement that they are committed to withdrawing from and staying away from the European Super League following backlash from their initial involvement.