MUMBAI: Barcelona, Real Madrid and Juventus, the three holdout clubs of the doomed from the get-go European Super League, on Wednesday vowed to fight back against UEFA’s decision to open disciplinary proceedings over their roles in trying to launch the ESL.
The continental governing body is investigating “a potential violation of UEFA’s legal framework”.
The Super League project was publicly launched late on April 18 then imploded within 48 hours after the six Premier League clubs that were on board with the ESL project pulled out amid a massive backlash from fans and threats of legislation by the British government.
Three clubs from Serie A and LaLiga – AC Milan, Inter Milan, Atlético Madrid – subsequently joined the six EPL clubs – Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United, Tottenham, Chelsea and Manchester City – in pulling the plug on the stillborn ESL.
Those clubs agreed to UEFA’s terms to forfeit 5% of their prize money from European competitions in the 2022-23 season and pay a combined 15 million euros ($18.4 million) as a “gesture of goodwill” to benefit children, youth and grassroots football.
Joint statement issued by ESL rump:
FC Barcelona, Juventus FC and Real Madrid CF wish to express their absolute rejection of the insistent coercion that UEFA has been maintaining towards three of the most relevant institutions in the history of football. This alarming attitude constitutes a flagrant breach of the decision of the courts of justice, which have already made a clear statement warning UEFA to refrain from taking any action that could penalise the founding clubs of the Super League while the legal proceedings are ongoing.
Therefore, the opening of disciplinary proceedings by UEFA is incomprehensible and is a direct attack against the rule of law that we, the citizens of the European Union, have democratically built up, while constituting a lack of respect toward the authority of the courts of justice themselves.
From the beginning, the Super League has been promoted with the aim of improving the situation of European football, through permanent dialogue with UEFA and with the objective to increase the interest in the sport and to offer fans the best possible show. This objective has to be achieved in a framework of sustainability and solidarity, especially in a precarious economic situation such as the one many clubs in Europe are currently experiencing.
Instead of exploring ways of modernizing football through open dialogue, UEFA expects us to withdraw the ongoing court proceedings that question their monopoly over European football. Barcelona, Juventus and Real Madrid, all of them more than a century old, will not accept any form of coercion or intolerable pressure, while they remain strong in their willingness to debate, respectfully and through dialogue, the urgent solutions that football currently needs.
Either we reform football or we will have to watch its inevitable downfall.
