Barcelona, Juventus and in particular Real Madrid have been like the cat who got their cream since Friday’s court ruling in Spain.
FC Barcelona, Juventus, and Real Madrid CF welcome today’s Court’s decision enforcing, with immediate effect, UEFA’s obligation to unwind the actions taken against all European Super League founding clubs, including terminating the disciplinary proceedings against the undersigning three clubs and removing the penalties and restrictions imposed on the remaining nine founding clubs for them to avoid UEFA’s disciplinary action.
While UEFA haven’t commented, a statement from the La Liga and Italian giants implies that European Football’s governing body have an ‘obligation’ to terminate any disciplinary actions against them for wanting to form a Super League.
The media in the UK have mocked the trio for trying to push through a competition which the other 9 founding members have withdrawn from.
It’s worth remembering though that owners and presidents of these footballing giants pay the world’s best lawyers to represent them.
Meanwhile UEFA and FIFA don’t have a track record where you can believe everything they claim is legit.
So, while many players believed the threats of being banned from representing your country was genuine and majority of clubs were scared of being kicked out of their own domestic football, maybe Florentino Perez was correct in May to predict the concept of an ESL is not over?
It’s always been believed that it was the Real President who sold this break away League to his American peers, knowing they would be enticed by the sporting model of the US, namely zero relegation or promotion – you make money off simply being the brand you are.
It certainly seems that would fit into Stan Kroenke’s ethos.
Arsenal are without European Football for the first time in 25 years during a Pandemic.
Financially now would be the perfect time for us to be put into a table where we get 300 million a year for just being a member.
You could argue that out of the founding members no team would benefit financially from the Super League more than us.
The fear is now if Mr Perez can tweak the concept and convince these business people that there can be zero legal consequences, then this idea will be back on the table.
Again to his credit, Mr Perez has always claimed he would woo back the founding members.
Man City and Chelsea were the first of ‘the big six’ of the EPL to pull out after 48 hours of backlash which included input from parliament and the Royal Family.
It was always believed that those two felt obliged to join their 4 English rivals to avoid being left behind.
Neither though needed the money nor could afford to break contracts.
The other 4 prem sides had committed their entire business model to this.
What do those 4 have in common?
Owned by Americans.
3 of which who have made a fortune owning American franchises who play in a pyramid which is essentially a closed shop.
The Gunners would get more prize money finishing bottom of a Super League then they would finishing 8th in the Prem.
Everything about the Super League pyramid reflects how Mr Kroenke views sports and how they should operate.
Within hours of each other, each of the big six released statements saying the same thing …….they were sorry, hadn’t realised this would be the response but were now listening.
What a crock…
These are well educated people who didn’t just wake up one day and blindly sign a piece of paper without proper thinking.
They knew their fanbase wouldn’t be happy and it’s an insult to pretend otherwise.
They used Covid as an experiment to see if in the worst case the sport could function without supporters and would now use Asia and South America as their target audience.
Overseas network would compensate for Sky and BT walking away.
Make no mistake, Arsenal pulled out because the other 5 did, simple as that.
Our Gunners were going to be taken away from us, eventually moved to LA where we would lose most weeks with zero consequence.
It didn’t happen because the Premier League is one of England’s biggest brands.
When the future king and Prime Minister are discussing how to protect the national game, then the juice isn’t worth the squeeze.
Yet what if players can still play in the World Cup and the Euros?
What if clubs can still play domestically?
That’s why Perez will be delighted this weekend.
He will care less about his own clubs sanctions and more that UEFA could be forced to ‘unwind the actions taken against all’.
The 9 founding members were all fined in May small amounts but crucially signed an agreement that they will pay over 100 million if they ever breach again their European Club Association.
It remains a huge PR gamble for any English side to backtrack so soon after their grovelling apology.
Yet the last few days have been a victory for the 3 sole members.
If they can prove to the other 9 (who at one point were very interested) that UEFA and FIFA can’t in fact legally put sanctions in the way, then that can allow negotiations to recommence.
The other 9 equally have highly paid advisers and clearly believed UEFA were or are entitled to slap them on the wrist.
Perez always said he was happy with the notion that certain terms needed adjusting for those sensitive to change.
What if his brainwave simply replaced the Champions league?
What if everyone agreed to a promotion and relegation system?
I’m not sure how loudly but the monster named the Super League is still breathing.
As long as we are owned by the Kroenke Family, nothing is off the table.
Be kind in the comments
Dan
Charlton offer 2 mill for Bellerin.
I think we should let him go.
Wow, I know those rich clubs’ owners are very powerful, but I didn’t realize that the government also bow to them. UEFA must hear their concerns about their losses and find a middle ground
The big clubs’ owners should play fair and square too. They can’t expect 100% ROI if their teams keep losing
UEFA had no grounds to fine the clubs, thats why they lost. Got nothing to do with governments bowing to anyone. UEFA has no case and often does what it wants and thinks there are no consequences. The same exact thing superleague got accused of funny enough.
UEFA could’ve banned all ESL participants from all UEFA competitions and would only allow them to re-enter after the clubs pay the fine
Lawyers cost big money at this level and these club owners have deep pockets.
If the super league commenses and fotball clubs (especially English ones) doesn’t listen to their fans about joining, I’m afraid it will be the beginning of the end for the EPL. I could be wrong of course, but it seems like all football values as we know them is being traded for the chance to make money. The EPL is special, if I wanted the US model I would watch US sports.
Absolutely in agreement
I don’t know about the future of the EPL, but should Arsenal join the super league, the Club will be dead to me. It goes totally against the ethos of what football is about. Promotion and relegation are fundamental to football.
There are no governing body over the fans. The fans spoke out loudly against the clubs and will never trust them again until they repay the fans with loyalty. No matter what happens in Spain! Unlike the debt ridden greedy remaing three clubs, other clubs could see the real issue. Integrity!
There isnt an appetite amoung English club fans for a spurious super league breakaway run by owners, that is and was plainly obvious. This story will not get anywhere while greedy owners disconnected from their clubs dont take notice of fans. There may be a changed super league in the future but it wont be run by clubs.
The write-up feels bitter – perhaps rightly so. But it isn’t entirely fair, especially in its singling out of Kroenke.
For instance, when you claim “[t]he other 4 prem sides (Arsenal, Tottenham, ManU, and L’pool] had committed their entire business model to this,” it suggests both that all 4 were pushing for ESL in particular (which isn’t really true) and that they continued to do so with conviction after City and Chelsea left (which isn’t true at all). It *is* the case that of the PL sides involved, the 4 would benefit the most from the steady revenue stream involved in the ESL, but, again, I’m not entirely sure either that Arsenal would be the primary beneficiary of the ESL or that the money involved wouldn’t matter more for clubs from outside UK. The ESL was devised in Spain and Italy, whose leading clubs are already in massive debt and (for the most part) don’t have budgets as big as the top English sides do.
Another questionable assertion (though an understandable sentiment!) is “[the American owners of English clubs] are well educated people who didn’t just wake up one day and blindly sign a piece of paper without proper thinking.” The thing is, we pretty much *know* the main reason why those clubs became involved was FOMO – both in financial and in sporting terms. They saw the biggest clubs in Europe form a coalition that promised access to greater profits and “eternal” stability. If your main concern is that the club is financially self-reliant without losing prestige, it’s a complete win-win. You really don’t need to be a hypocrite to see that the ESL is a godsend for your club so long as your main priority is brand, and not people. One of the reasons we *know* they didn’t take the people into account is that they didn’t do anything at all to cushion the blow for the fans. If they had put a single thought into fan response, they wouldn’t have dropped the news in this asinine manner.
Yet another – I promise, the last – assertion that seems particularly unfair is that “[t]hey used Covid as an experiment to see if in the worst case the sport could function without supporters … .” In fact, COVID is one of the main reasons that the ESL project was announced. The leading clubs advanced the competition because they were already in dire straits and were hoping to bolster their finances ASAP *knowing that the pandemic will further hurt their bottom line*.
Again, I FULLY appreciate the sentiment, but it feels like you’re going out of your way to tarnish those clubs, where it is completely unnecessary to do so. Isn’t it bad enough that they went into ESL with both feet without consulting the fans? Isn’t it bad enough that the leadership in all of those clubs gave more consideration to the bottom line than to fans (as if money was the only thing that made football work)? It really is unnecessary to go any further, and I think it puts you in a bad light, which you could have easily avoided by putting more thought into your own writing…
PS. And to close such a screed with “Be kind in the comments” really takes the cake. Where was that sentiment when you were writing this? 😀
Where have I been unkind ?
We were pushing to join the ESL , that’s been admitted
Out of the 12 founding members we are only ones not in Europe hence we have lost that revenue stream as well as match day revenue
Now you can say you disagree but that’s different to being unkind
Someone writing what you disagree with isn’t being unkind
Out of the 12 founding members we are only ones not in Europe
We’re still in the fight to be in Europe when the ESL issue came up.
So don’t act like we are actually out of the competition before the ESL issue.
Your accused write up should have been about then not now.
If you’re talking about now, we’ve already renounced it which make your article so bitter.
And if you’re talking about then, you’re just trying to pick one person out from the bunch.
And I never know Spurs owner are Americans.
I thought they are British.
Aren’t they?
Factual statement arsenal are not in Europe and in May at time knew there was high chance that would be the case
And no spurs owners are not British lol
Dan
High chance is different from Fact.
It’s football, anything can happen.
Westham has high chance of relegating in Tevez last season but they win all the big teams in there way to avoid relegation at season end.
Nobody see it coming but it happened.
Spurs owner are not British.
Thanks Dan and Reggie
Have always think Spurs owner are British all this years.
Thank God I never get into arguments with someone about this.
I never bother to check cos I don’t want to know anything about spurs
Thanks
It really safe a brother.
I doubt very much the extra-territorial powers of a Spanish court, in particular post-Brexit.
All this decision seems to do is ensure that UEFA cannot pursue the Spanish clubs for Superleague fines.
Other than that, I wouldn’t read too much into it.
Should Arsenal join a European Super League I will terminate over 60 years of support. I want to see them play West Ham, Leicester, Watford etc. Not participating in some sterile Americanised inter-franchise competition mockery of a great game.
The super league would be in place of the CL not domestic games , this is why UEFA are so against it as they will lose huge amounts of revenue if this got the go ahead ,this being why UEFA are now changing the format from 2024 (i think )for the CL .
Not sure why fans are so up in arms with this competition as it’s just replacing a corrupt competition with another one .
To think fans believe UEFA are putting up a fight against the SL for the good of the game really need to go read up all about them and what they have done for the game .
No difference to me just all about money grabbing organisations trying to get whatever they can from clubs .
I agree Dan kit
UEFA have got far too big for it’s boots because they have the monopoly, changes that have been made over the years have been so that they can make more money not for the good of the sport
I don’t think we got to hear the details of the European Super League proposal as it was strangled at birth by noise from all directions, but I don’t think it included dropping out of the Premier League or FA Cup, it was a replacement for the Champions League that now has so many matches that it adversely affects the Premier League, with less teams, less games an EFL would potentially affect the Premier League and FA Cup less
They would be showpiece games, against attractive opposition, instead of going to the Emirates to watch Dundalk in a Europa League Group match we could watch Arsenal play Barca, I think I’d be OK with that as long as it didn’t have a negative impact on the Premier League or FA Cup
The Champions League has already reduced the high level entry point for a European Competition, originally the European Cup was for Champions of respective European Leagues only (no entry for 2nd never mind 3rd or 4th) and so if you won the European Cup you were the best of the best in Europe that season
PS: Did the writer of the article actually say that the ESL was such a slippery slope that it would lead to Arsenal being relocated to Los Angeles?!, also ring fencing Chelsea & City for no real reason other than blaming Americans and then suggesting Kroenke was the worst American of them all has no substance I’m afraid, all 6 Clubs were as bad/good as each other on this one
The accusation of Arsenal going to LA is hilarious also, considering UEFA has been trying to move UCL games abroad for YEARS. I love how people view UEFA as the good guys when they have tried to do almost everything people accuse the Superleague of being a threat to.
nobody cares about facts anymore Dan, lol. The amount of ppl who think the superleague clubs were going to not play domestic is just too many, lol. Read just one article and folks wouldn’t make this mistake!
👍 Here, here!
Helllllll No!!!
I hate the idea of a Super League
I’ll pass thanks 😂😄
If the European Super League comes into being it will be purely Autocratic, Oligarchic self interest, just there for the Kroenke empire’s pleasure and not for the happiness of the supporters. It is totally undemocratic and seeing the supporters responses of the English sides…..likely to cause riots. Maybe that is the way to get rid of the Kroenke’s?
Several key thoughts pertain: Firstly, I question what ultimate decision making powers a “mere” Spanish court can have. The answer is unclear but is surely in some clear doubt.
Secondly, our Prem game is being pulled in two polar directions. One by the fanbase, who almost unanimously wish to retain our Prem much as it is now. That is my position too.
The other polar direction is away from all the game has represented since its inception back in Victorian times and in favour of ditching proper and fair competition, in favour of a closed shop, which is why all decent fair minded folk will NEVER STOMACH THAT SCHEME.
Ultimately, fan power will always win out, PROVIDED that it stays united and does not sell its soul.
Some (very few indeed) Gooners DID recommend taking the evil corporate shilling and selling its soul. Such folk are beneath contempt, needless to add!
In life there will always be an occasional Judas but thankfully among ordinary folk, they are very rare.
Thirdly, the USA type of franchise monster, which of course includes KSE, is the enemy of all that is good, wholesome and decent in football and it always has been, always will be.
It works on fundamentally different and wrongheaded values; evil, money seeking and careless of how we “little people ” matter or think!
Fourthly, if we truly wish to see our sport flourish and livelong into the future, we need to fundamentally address a poison that has infected top level footbalfor decades. PLAYER WAGES AND THELOVEOF GREED.
I have been banging on about the harm greed does to us all for many years and long before JA began . I have campaigned actively against the greed culture that is steadily taking us all in the fundamentally wrong direction, in both footballand in life.
I know I am right but I fear the battle is lost,with the populace at large. So few have ever posted that they see this danger or even agree with me.
I SEE SO VERY CLEARLY HOW WE ARE ALL HELPING DESTROY THE VALUES that once underpinned our game for over its first century in Britain.
Each time we call for Kroenke to spend another countless millions on a player and demand our club to pay so and so whatever he wants in order to keep him(OZIL AUBA, etc, its a long list, as with all clubs too), then we drive another nail into the formerly healthy body of our game .
THAT final point is by far the most pressing but sadly I am almost alone in seeing how close this danger is to completely destroying our game and all it has stood for over time. I am weeping with frustration at not being able to help, as I know exactly what we NEED but my words fall on wilfully deaf ears!
To begin curing it we need , NOW, to actively campaign for all Prem salaries to be reduced by at least 80%; more would be healthier still!
Thanks Dan for posting. A really deep and thought provoking response from Zdzis – although the ps to Dan was really unnecessary.
For me it changes nothing as there is no way a Spanish ruling will be binding elsewhere, and as I believe it was fundamentally flawed, cases elsewhere would probably fail.
Good comment too from Foxy about the huge risks for the future of football as we know/knew it from the greed culture amongst both corporate owners and players – although I think urging an 80% salary cut may be a tad unrealistic!
I fear we are already in an irreversible downward spiral – initiated by the great media success of our EPL followed by the CL. The cost and turnover of clubs is now beyond the reach of most benevolent individuals, and only affordable to corporation that need to make profits.
Not many Bill Gates figures out there that would love football rather than money.
I believe UEFA and FIFA have gone beyond there limit which court in Madrid and European court of justice in luxenburg put them where they belong they act as the founder football worldwide imagine putting a sanction in nation and intationational football to the estence they brainwash the UK media and fansbase to go against the ESL also label the project as an avenue for the big club to get more richer which i totally disagreed UEFA and FIFA made thereselves the sole owner of football they forget that there a law the that guide all organisation the power intustication in the act of Uefa and Fifa is highly uncallful slaming some drastic disciplinary measures of €100 millions and two years band from UCL competitions on the tree stand out teams all because thay refuse to whitdraw from the project also a disciplinary measure of €22 millions fine on the remaining nine and eventually they rejoin the ESL project they will face a fine of €100 millions and 30points deduction from there domestic league
Personally I have no problem with a super league as long as it has a promotion/relegation system. It’s a natural progression to have competitions that continue to prune teams until only the best play the best. The current CL essentially prevents any teams from consistent international success that don’t come from the right country. See Porto, RB Salzburg, Ajax.
Greed is the driving force behind this and there should really be restrictions on debt and salaries regardless. Teams like Barcelona should even exist.