Real Madrid and Barcelona face broad opposition as Super League supporters. But how long does the solidarity of the others last?
“From today on, the clubs are the masters of their fate”: Florentino Pérez, President of Real Madrid and winner of the day at first glance.
Yoan Valat / EPA
The sports law winners of the day are in Madrid and Barcelona. At first glance. After the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled in favor of the initiators of a European football super league on Thursday, Florentino Pérez spoke of “enormous satisfaction”. According to the president of Real Madrid, it is a victory of “law, reason and freedom”.
For many years, Pérez has been the most powerful force behind the effort to decouple European club football from the continental association Uefa. He had already been the initiator of the attempt in 2021, which was as large-scale as it was a great failure; Many supporters at the time have since dropped out. But on December 21, 2023, Pérez says undaunted: “This day will mark a before and after.” And: “From today on, the clubs are the masters of their fate.”
FC Barcelona is also hoping for a “dialogue about the future of football”. In an initial statement, Real’s last colleague mentioned many aspects in which the clubs felt bullied by the associations: the “overloaded schedule”, the “excess of international matches” or the insufficient steps to “make progress with financial fair play”.
At the other end of the Spanish opinion scale, league boss Javier Tebas wants nothing to do with a “dialogue”. Just a few minutes after the verdict became known, he responded with a series of tweets, saying that it was being remembered more than ever that the Super League was “a selfish and elitist model”.
What the advance that they have read to us is saying. There must be transparent, clear, objective rules for the approval of competitions, which is not enough to simply disapprove, and there should be an objective, regulatory structure that requires conditions… https://t.co/GarICXfbIi
— Javier Tebas Medrano (@Tebasjavier) December 21, 2023
The third major Spanish club, Atlético Madrid, which was still a rebel in 2021 but then ruefully returned to UEFA loyalty, announced in the early afternoon that it would continue to reject the Super League even after the ECJ ruling. Meanwhile, Real President Pérez is preparing for the fact that the “campaigns” against the Super League “will undoubtedly intensify from today onwards. But no one said it would be easy to end a monopoly after so many decades.”
The English protect their cultural assets
Six top English clubs (Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham) were also among the rebels in 2021 – unlike back then, England football appeared well prepared on Thursday for the renewed flare-up of the Super League mind game.
Immediately after the ECJ’s decision, the most important football authorities in Great Britain confirmed their opposition to a new continental competition and the possible participation of English clubs. This scenario would significantly weaken the value of the Premier League, which is currently considered the most attractive football league in the world and has recently signed a new TV contract worth billions until 2029.
The British Ministry for Culture, Media and Sport confirmed in a statement that it would continue to do everything in its power to prevent the separation of English clubs. The government will soon present a law that will prevent domestic clubs from participating in comparable breakaway formats. A supervisory body is supposed to monitor the business conduct of English clubs.
The trigger for this measure is, among other things, the massive outcry from English fans against the Super League ambitions in 2021. The then Prime Minister Boris Johnson then threatened a “legislative bomb” and instructed Sports Minister Tracey Crouch to carry out a review of the existing football regulations. Implement governance structures. The reform proposals were recently approved in a speech by King Charles and are expected to be largely finalized soon.
The government is receiving support from the Football Supporters’ Association, a fans’ association whose managing director Kevin Miles, as usual, harshly criticized the new Super League efforts. He described her as a European zombie, a walking dead monster. This was followed by a statement from the European fan organization Football Supporters Europe (FSE). She said: “Whatever comes next, the Super League remains an ill-conceived project that endangers the future of European football.” The FSE will defend itself against this with all members and fans; There is no place for “a breakaway Super League” in European football.
FSA response to today’s European Super League case. pic.twitter.com/6Pvb0oCw8K
— The FSA (@WeAreTheFSA) December 21, 2023
The club owners, whose top representatives had once welcomed the creation of a Super League for financial reasons, signed a charter in June 2022 according to which they will no longer promote competitions that do not comply with the rules of the Premier League. They undertook to be guardians of the associations and to abide by the spirit of the associated obligations.
But why are the reactions on the island so clear? The Premier League is considered a great English cultural asset and an export hit. Many people place historical structures and sporting rivalries above international ambitions. The need for independence was also politically underpinned not long ago: through Brexit. Ironically, the exit from the EU in connection with the current vote of the ECJ means that its case law in itself has no significance for Great Britain.
The Swiss league CEO Schäfer says: “Pure marketing, nothing else”
At second glance, Real Madrid and Barcelona are on their own. Claudius Schäfer, the long-time CEO of the Swiss Football League, speaks of a “big solidarity movement” that has emerged in the last few months, from most major European clubs to leagues and fan organizations. Schäfer says: “We stand by the model as it is today.” If he heard that the Super League turbos around Real, Barça and the marketing agency A22 were talking about “openness” and “solidarity” and promising that several hundred million would go into one pot and all games could be seen on free TV, “Then for me it’s pure marketing, nothing else.”
“We stand by the model as it is today”: Claudius Schäfer, the CEO of the Swiss Football League, on the current attitude of the majority of European football clubs.
Alessandro Della Valle / Keystone
Schäfer assumes that nothing will change for Swiss clubs in the short and medium term – only when the current “close alliance” breaks down will there be a “big confrontation”. Schäfer cannot estimate whether or when it will begin to crumble – what he does know is how important the European sports model is for the Swiss league, “this pyramid system”, as he says. What he means: that it is possible for clubs to qualify for international competitions through the national leagues, where greater earning potential is offered.
Schäfer recalls that in 2019 UEFA pursued a model that was strongly in the direction of a European Super League, with a league that seeded large clubs and paid little attention to smaller clubs. This idea met with a lot of resistance from medium and smaller leagues and from the European Leagues, the association of European professional leagues, of which Schäfer is now vice president.
“We managed to stick with this pyramid,” says Schäfer – and with this sentence there is hope that this achievement will not be called into question tomorrow or the day after. A certain amount of skepticism remains; As Schäfer emphasizes again: “The primary goal of the Super League was that a larger part of the income ends up with the big clubs. This intention completely contradicts what they are saying today: that there should be solidarity and qualifications through the national leagues should be possible – I don’t trust that for a second.”
UEFA is also committed to today’s football pyramid
The German Football League also continued its commitment to the European sports model on Thursday and rejected “competitions outside of those organized by the associations and leagues”. The continental association UEFA exuded calm. The judgment of the European Court of Justice does not mean an “endorsement or confirmation of the so-called Super League,” said UEFA. Newly introduced rules would address the deficiencies listed by the court; UEFA is confident that these new requirements for admission to competitions “comply with all relevant European laws and regulations”. The association continues to stand by the football pyramid, as strongly advocated by Swiss CEO Schäfer.
