The war continues between FIFA, the body that manages world football, and the big European clubs to control most of the economic income of this sport. After seeing the leaders of major clubs continue to meet to plan a possible European Super League, FIFA has responded with a statement signed with the support of the six continental confederations (UEFA, AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBOL and OFC) that makes it clear that a Super League would not be recognized. Moreover, if a footballer ended up playing this hypothetical tournament, he would be unable to play a World Cup.
“Those clubs or players who played in this competition would be prohibited from participating in competitions organized by FIFA or the corresponding confederation,” the text said on Thursday, “in light of recent press speculation about the creation of a Super League. “. The statement recalled that “in accordance with the statutes of FIFA and the confederations, all competitions must be organized or recognized by the body corresponding to each level: by FIFA, globally, and by the confederation, at the continental level “.
Is a European Super League possible?
An increasingly defined proposal
The Superliga tournament model could be one of 16 to 20 clubs, with no relegations or promotions, with a regular phase and a play-off later to decide the champion. Now, a second proposal would be 16 teams that would always play it, plus four guests each year, divided into two groups of 10. The clubs would be working to have this tournament ready for the year 2022.
Some teams, like Bayern, have said they oppose it, right now. Barça, Atlético de Madrid, Real Madrid, PSG and Juventus, on the other hand, do not hide much that they like the idea of this tournament, and the meetings have accelerated a lot in recent months. That is, with the covid-19. The Italian press, for example, reported a meeting between Florentino Pérez, president of Real Madrid, and Andrea Agnelli, of Juventus, this past week. Manchester United would be one of the other clubs leading this initiative. The power vacuum at Barça has left the Barça club, present in all the meetings, in the background lately, although it was Josep Maria Bartomeu who explained the plans for this project on the day of his resignation. It was the first time a leader had done so openly.
FIFA has therefore counterattacked. “The universal principles of sporting merit, solidarity, the system of promotions and relegations and subsidiarity are key elements in the football pyramid, which guarantees the overall success of this sport and are therefore included in the statutes of FIFA and the confederations “. The Spanish league has also taken a stand against this idea, which would allow clubs to manage revenue to their liking, but could create a civil war in football with unintended consequences. Both the state federations and the big bodies, FIFA and UEFA, oppose it, because they believe it breaks the democratic principles of sport, in which everyone should have a chance to compete, and because they are afraid of losing the control much of the money that manages the king sport. The clubs have already spoken to financial funds and banks, such as JPMorgan Chase & Co, to secure the money to launch the competition.
UEFA, however, would be willing to change the format of the Champions League from 2024 to create a first group stage with six teams. In other words, “a Champions to give more matches and more income to the big clubs, without closing the door to the small ones”, explains a Barça source who has taken part in talks with the European body. UEFA could announce these changes next February, hoping to see if they are satisfied with clubs fighting for a stronger league than ever, now that covid-19 has left their box empty.
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