Super League latest news: ESL’s new plan for football sparks anger and derision

A new-look, open European Super League could contain up to 80 teams in a multi-divisional format, the competition’s chief executive has said.

The competition would be based on sporting performance only with no permanent members, A22 chief executive Bernd Reichart told German newspaper Die Welt.

Teams would be guaranteed a minimum of 14 matches per season, Reichart wrote.

A22, a company formed to sponsor and assist with the creation of the Super League, has consulted with nearly 50 European clubs since October last year and developed 10 principles based on that consultation which underpin its plans for a new-look league.

Plenty of comment and, shall we say, derision, over the expanded leagues idea – almost as if a ‘best of Europe’ structure with different tiers already exists.

The lack of detail on offer from the manifesto is also cause for criticism.

Grand new plans for a revived European Super League have been dismissed as “the twitching of the corpse” by the chief executive of the Football Supporters’ Association (FSA).

The organisation charged with devising and promoting the Super League, A22, has launched its radical new proposals, centring around plans for a 60-80 club competition across multiple divisions, which would operate in conjunction with existing national leagues such as the Premier League as well as Uefa competitions like the Champions League.

A22’s CEO, Bernd Reichart, presented his vision to the media at a London hotel on Thursday morning. Reichart claims to have involved nearly 50 European clubs and stakeholders in the discussions. But the feeling across the game remains deeply sceptical and the FSA says it was not directly consulted on the latest plans.

“It’s not going to happen,” the FSA’s chief executive, Kevin Miles, told The Independent. “This latest plan is just their way of reminding the world that they exist, they are still here. But it’s all hot air.”

Exclusive quotes from the FSA here:

Sources at Liverpool have told the Liverpool Echo that their stance on the Super League remains unchanged from their September 2021 statement, when the club said: “Our involvement in the proposed ESL plans has been discontinued. We are absolutely committed to following that through and there should be no ambiguity to suggest otherwise.”

The organiser of the new Super League plans, A22, has yet to reveal which clubs, if any, back the proposals.

There remains a startling lack of detail available over the Super League’s newly scrubbed reform plan, which features a list of 10 principles to govern their approach.

They say they have been formed after “consistent feedback” with clubs, though opted against saying which ones.

The 10 guiding princples are listed as:

• Meritocratic competitions, with multi-divisional format and no permanent members
• Clubs remain committed to domestic tournaments
• Improve competitiveness with stable, sustainable resources
• Player health at the centre of the game
• Well-enforced and transparent financial sustainability rules
• Create “the world’s best football competition”
• Improved fan experience
• Develop and finance women’s football by putting it “centre stage” side-by-side with men’s game
• Significant increase in solidarity
• Respect for EU laws and values

Grand new plans for a revived European Super League have been dismissed as “the twitching of the corpse” by the chief executive of the Football Supporters’ Association (FSA).

The Independent has spoken to the Football Supporters’ Association this morning, who dismissed the Super League’s new plans as “hot air”.

“It’s not going to happen,” said the FSA’s chief executive, Kevin Miles. “This latest plan is just their way of reminding the world that they exist, they are still here. But it’s all hot air.”

The original Super League plans, involving 15 founding members including six English clubs who would have benefitted from ringfenced financial gains, was effectively killed off in court and there appears to be little momentum now for its revival.

“It’s the twitching of the corpse,” said Miles.

LaLiga’s biggest two clubs were told late last year by finance group KPMG that moving to a European Super League would bankrupt Spain’s top flight.

The report estimated the league’s value – comprised of broadcast rights, sponsorship, season tickets and other ticketing – at 3.316 billion euros (£2.85bn) in the current season.

The existence of a Super League played in midweek would slash that value by 1.662 billion euro (£1.4bn) while if LaLiga was forced to become a midweek competition the impact is forecast to be even greater – with a reduction of 1.8billion euro (£1.5bn) – a drop of 55 per cent.

LaLiga president Javier Tebas has hit out at the latest relaunch of the European Super League, depicting the organisation as a sly thief trying to steal influence and finance away from the heart of football.

Following the widespread condemnation by fans of the initial plans, most clubs involved in the 2019 launch quickly distanced themselves from the idea, many apologising in the process. Barcelona, Real Madrid and Juventus have remained the driving forces behind a renewed push, however.

Now the relaunch, which includes a minimum of 14 matches per team and features 10 principles of structure derived extensive consultation with clubs, is again purporting to stop “the foundations of European football […] collapsing.”

Tebas, though, is insistent that the group are far from the saviours of football and will instead remain self-serving – tweeting an image which showed a “Super League” wolf disguised as a grandmother and a faceless “Europe football” figure stylised as Little Red Riding Hood.

Sky journalist Rob Harris has revealed that A22 – the group behind the European Super League – have refused to divulge which clubs back them with the new proposals.

The English clubs initially aligned with the ESL in 2019 quickly removed themselves from the conversation after outrage from supporters.