The world of international soccer was rocked Sunday night with the announcement of a new and threatening league that will take top clubs from three other leagues in England and Europe. The European Super League was here, and it could have destroyed the sport of soccer across the pond as we know it now.

Twelve clubs were announced as ‘founding teams’ including Real Madrid, Manchester United, Liverpool, Juventus, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Inter Milan, A.C. Milan, Manchester City, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur, and Arsenal. All founding clubs come from the Premier League, La Liga, and Serie A. By the start of play, three more teams would have been announced as founders.

The Super League is a year-round competition for Europe’s top soccer teams away from their domestic leagues, such as the Premier League, La Liga, or Serie A. Leagues like this have been discussed and rumored in the past, but this is the first time that it has been announced to happen.
The league will work in two divisions where teams compete in midweek games all season long. In the four weeks after the season, a tournament similar to the Champions League will happen with knock-out rounds before the championship game. This tournament will be run by the founding teams.

“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 league has come out to say after the announcement of its existence.

Die-hard fans in the UK have come out to protest against the formation of the league. One major complaint from fans is that there is no sense of competition. Fifteen clubs are guaranteed into the league’s competition, and the other five will be picked in a way that is still unknown. It is rumored to be through invitations. There will be no relegation and seemingly no progress through the years of the league. The Champions League does have relegation, and required entry to the tournament is through domestic league performance.

Only 48 hours after the announcement of the Super League, all six Premier League teams have decided to opt-out of the league. This is due to the angry response from both the club’s fans.
“Manchester City Football Club can confirm that it has formally enacted the procedures to withdraw from the group developing plans for a European Super League.” Manchester City came out first to back out, releasing that statement.

“Liverpool Football Club can confirm that our involvement in proposed plans to form a European Super League has been discontinued. In recent days, the club has received representations from various key stakeholders, both internally and externally, and we would like to thank them for their valuable contributions.” These were two statements released by Premier League clubs confirming their leave of the new league.

The decision to join the creation of the Super League was done without the consent or the knowledge of each team’s fans. Supporters of English and European clubs are what drives the intensity and passion for the game that so many have. The twelve teams involved have back-stabbed their fans in this decision.

The sense of community is a big part of why there are so many supporters for soccer. The business has taken priority over the fans in this instance. These twelve teams, already worth billions of dollars, will have the opportunity to capitalize on the economic aspects of the new league.
Smaller leagues and teams have also been put at risk for the creation of the Super League. In the Premier League, Manchester United, Liverpool, Manchester City, Chelsea, Tottenham, and Arsenal all bring in the most money to support teams such as Crystal Palace or Newcastle. The leagues below the EPL, such as the Champions League, depend on the money brought in by these big six.

“Football is based on open competitions and sporting merit; it cannot be any other way. The clubs concerned will be banned from playing in any other competition at domestic, European or world level, and their players could be denied the opportunity to represent their national teams.” The UEFA said.

“Any club or player involved in such a competition would as a consequence not be allowed to participate in any competition organized by FIFA or their respective confederation,” FIFA said in their statement.