The rebel and breakaway European Super League has been in the pipeline for a number of years now and it looks like this is finally going to happen.
Over the weekend, the grapevines in Europe have been abuzz with rumours that the potential league could be announced very soon and this has sent panic amongst the current footballing hierarchy in Europe.
Sky News’ editor Mark Kleinman said: “My understanding is that 12 clubs from across Europe including the six biggest English clubs have now signed up to this new format. The others include Barcelona, Juventus and Real Madrid.
“The new league includes staggering sums of money that will be handed to the participating clubs. And this will come after European clubs’ finances have been hard-hit by the coronavirus pandemic which is one of the reasons why so many of Europe’s biggest clubs have decided that now is the right time to form a European Super League after years of on/off discussions about such a project.”
Major governing bodies of football across the continent have swiftly come out to make their stance very clear, claiming all the participating clubs will face severe punishments and the players involved will also not get a chance to play for their respective national sides.
It’s still unclear as to how this will pan out but we took this opportunity to dig out some facts regarding the European Super League.
- The first ever idea of such a league came about in 1998 back in Italy but that buzz quickly died down after UEFA chose to expand the Champions League.
2. In 2009, Real Madrid’s Florentino Perez was the first major personality from the footballing community who chose to speak in favour of the European Super League.
3. In 2018, Football Leaks broke the news that a European Super League was being worked upon and the tournament could be a reality by 2021.
4. As per the latest reports, American bank JP Morgan have committed around $5billion to this new competition.
5. In the first edition of the European Super League, 12 major European clubs are likely to take part. But as per the reports, big names like PSG and Bayern Munich are expected to stay out of it now.
6. When the initial plans were being chalked up a decade ago, there were talks of including as many as 38 clubs – forming a two-division structure. Clubs like Rangers FC and Celtic FC were also interested in being part of it.
5. Each club is likely to receive 350 million euros to join the Super League in its first edition.
6. Spanish sides FC Barcelona, Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid will be a part of this tournament along with Premier League sides such as Man United, Chelsea, Liverpool, Man City, Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal.
7. The competition is initially scheduled to be played in midweek, thereby shadowing UEFA tournaments such as the Champions League and the Europa League.
8. The three Spanish sides will need approval from their Sócios to join the Super League as they are not privately owned clubs, which will be easier said than done.
9. Initially the plan was to incorporate 16 permanent members and then invite four teams annually into the European Super League.
10. According to New York Times, currently the 12 participating teams are Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester City, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Juventus, AC Milan and Inter Milan.
