European Super League news - Breakaway group says looking to 'reshape' after English clubs quit
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ByEurosport
Updated 21/04/2021 at 08:42 GMT
The breakaway European Super League, rocked by the departure of its six English clubs on Tuesday, said it would focus on efforts to "reshape the project" while stopping short of declaring outright defeat. Serie A clubs AC and Inter Milan are said to be ready to abandon the project, according to reports, but the ESL remain adamant that the status quo of European football is not fit for purpose.
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The European Super League insists the departure of six of its 12 founding members is not a terminal blow, stating it will “reshape” the project without its English participants.
Having triggered an enormous backlash from players, fans and football authorities, the league was reduced to three teams each from Spain and Italy within 48 hours of its launch on Sunday.
Inter Milan look set to be the next to leave with a source close to the club telling Reuters they were no longer interested in the league "in light of the latest developments".
While the Super League beat a hasty retreat late on Tuesday, it offered no apologies.
"Despite the announced departure of the English clubs, forced to take such decisions due to the pressure on them, we are convinced our proposal is fully aligned with European law and regulations," the league said in a statement.
Given the current circumstances, we shall reconsider the most appropriate steps to reshape the project, always having in mind our goals of offering fans the best experience possible while enhancing solidarity payments for the entire football community.
Pundits declared the league dead in the water, its clubs' hopes of carving up a bigger slice of global football revenues undone by their own greed and hubris, as well the combination of fan power and the threat of sanctions.
But the shockwave from the Super League's implosion is now set to reverberate through football, with recriminations and score-settling expected at clubs and boardrooms across the continent.
Manchester United executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward announced his resignation shortly before his club gave up on a project he had been influential in bringing about.
Speaking before it was confirmed that the six English clubs had withdrawn, Juventus chairman Andrea Agnelli claimed the new competition would have a "100% chance of success".
"There is a blood pact binding our clubs together," Agnelli told La Repubblica.
"The Super League project has a 100 per cent likelihood of success. We are moving forward.
"We only want to create the most beautiful competition on earth, capable of bringing significant benefits to the entire pyramid of football, by increasing the distribution of resources to the other clubs."
Agnelli claims that "football is no longer a game, it's a business sector and what it needs most is stability" and said he expected the negative reaction the plans had received.
UEFA boss Aleksander Ceferin held out an olive branch to clubs that turned away from the Super League but he may struggle to forgive his former ally Agnelli, who was head of the European Club Association and a member of UEFA's executive board until Sunday.
Having painstakingly negotiated a new 36-team format for the Champions League, UEFA were humiliated by the Super League push, with Ceferin saying the governing body now knew who the "snakes" were.
The remaining Super League clubs are nonetheless likely to be welcomed back to Europe's established competitions given UEFA can ill-afford to forgo the revenue they bring.
Amid the cheers from fans as the Super League unravelled on Tuesday, anger remains. Pundits said the owners of the British teams would not be forgiven despite their U-turn and urged them to give up their interests.
The owners may merely pause and regroup before exerting more pressure on UEFA, which has staved off several threats of breakaway leagues over decades.
"The European Super League is convinced that the current status quo of European football needs to change," the ESL said.
We are proposing a new European competition because the existing system does not work.
With additional reporting from Reuters
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