European football went into a frenzy late Sunday after 12 top flight teams announced a breakaway ‘Super League’ which is targeting an August start.
Six Premier League teams -- Liverpool, Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City and Tottenham -- are involved, alongside Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Juventus, Inter Milan and AC Milan.
The proposed league would be highly exclusive in nature, comprising 15 founder members, 20 participant clubs, and 5 more clubs that would get qualified based on their previous season’s performance.
The new league has proposed midweek fixtures with its participants hoping to play their respective national leagues. Two groups of 10 would play at home and away. The top 3 from each group would directly qualify for the quarter-finals, and the teams that finish fourth and fifth would lock horns in a two-leg play-off for the last ticket to the quarter-final. The final would take place at the end of May.
Real Madrid Chief Florentino Perez is the first chairman of the newly announced league that has become the hotspot for controversy in the football world. Joel Glazer (Manchester United) and Andrea Agnelli (Juventus) are the vice-chairmen.
Perez, who was announced as the first ESL president, said the breakaway reflected the big clubs' wishes.
"Football is the only global sport in the world with more than four billion fans and our responsibility as big clubs is to respond to their desires," he told AFP.
"By bringing together the world’s greatest clubs and players to play each other throughout the season, the Super League will open a new chapter for European football, ensuring world-class competition and facilities, and increased financial support for the wider football pyramid," said Joel Glazer.
Read more: UK PM Boris Johnson says plans for a European Super League would be very damaging for football
Meanwhile, former Manchester United star, Gary Neville, was not happy with the announcement, to say the least.
“I’m disgusted with Manchester United and Liverpool the most. They’re breaking away to a competition they can’t be relegated from? It’s an absolute disgrace. It’s pure greed, they’re impostors. The owners of Man United, Liverpool, Chelsea and Man City have nothing to do with football in this country. They’re an absolute joke. Time has come now to have independent regulators to stop these clubs from having the power base. Enough is enough”, he said.
The founding teams will reportedly split 3.5 billion euros among themselves for signing on to establish “a sustainable financial foundation.”
Much like the local leagues of these clubs, UEFA is also displeased as the breakaway directly threatens the glamorous Champions League from losing its star, elite clubs.
"UEFA, the English FA, RFEF, FIGC, the Premier League, La Liga, Lega Serie A, but also FIFA and all our member associations – will remain united in our efforts to stop this cynical project, a project that is founded on the self-interest of a few clubs at a time when society needs solidarity more than ever." UEFA said in a staement.
"We will consider all measures available to us, at all levels, both judicial and sporting in order to prevent this happening," it added.
Some other top-flight teams like Bundesliga’s Bayern Munich have not joined the Super League by forgoing their respective domestic leagues.
Football Supporters Europe, a fan-group, called the new league “illegitimate, irresponsible and anti-competitive by design".
(With inputs from Agencies)