Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold controls the ball during the UEFA Champions League quarter-final match between Liverpool FC and Real Madrid at Anfield on April 14, 2021 in Liverpool, England.
Shaun Botterill | Getty Images Sport | Getty Images
Twelve of Europe’s top football clubs have agreed to set up a Super League, despite widespread criticism of the plans.
A statement from the new competition said: “AC Milan, Arsenal, Atlético Madrid, Chelsea, Barcelona, Inter Milan, Juventus, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Real Madrid and Tottenham Hotspur have joined as founding clubs.
“Three more clubs are expected to join before the opening season, which is set to begin as soon as possible.”
Florentino Pérez, the president of Real Madrid and the first president of the Super League, said: “We will help football at all levels and take it to the right place in the world. Football is the only global sport in the world with more than four billion fans and responsibility Our role as big clubs is to respond to their wishes. “
The project is set to rival the UEFA Champions League format that currently dominates European football and comes at a time when UEFA was due to sign plans for an extended and restructured Champions League on Monday.
The new Super League has been criticized by politicians such as Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Labor Party leader Sir Keir Starmer, as well as former players such as Gary Neville.
Johnson said the new league would “attack the heart of the domestic game and concern fans across the country.”
Read more Sky Sports stories
He added: “The clubs involved must respond to their fans and the wider football community before taking further action.”
Sir Keir said the plans ignored the fans, adding: “Football on empty stadiums has not been the same in the last year. I can’t wait to get back to the games. But this proposal risks shutting down fans forever, reducing them to simple spectators and consumers.
“The clubs involved in this proposal should rethink immediately. And if not, they should face the consequences of their actions. Because football without fans is nothing.”
Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville told Sky Sports: “I’m not against modernizing football competitions, we have the Premier League, the Champions League, but I think bringing proposals in the middle of COVID and the economic crisis for all clubs is a scandal. absolute.
“United and the rest of the Big Six who scored against it against the rest of the Premier League should be ashamed of themselves.”
Neville added: “You should deduct six points from all six teams that have scored. Deduct points from all of them. Do it during a season? It’s a joke.”
UEFA, the FA and the Premier League, among others, have expressed opposition, saying in a joint statement that “they remain united in our efforts to stop this cynical project”, adding: “We thank those clubs in other countries, especially Clubs French and German, who refused to sign up.
“This persistent self-interest of a few has been going on for too long. It’s enough.”
The English FA said: “We will not grant permission for any competition that would harm English football and we will take any legal and / or regulatory action necessary to protect the wider interests of the game.”
20 participating clubs will participate in the Super League competition – 15 founding clubs and five other teams able to qualify annually based on their achievements from the previous season.
It will start in August, with clubs participating in two groups of 10, playing home and away matches, some during the week, with the top three in each group qualifying for the quarter-finals.
Teams finishing fourth and fifth will compete in a two-legged play-off for places remaining in the quarterfinals before the playoff format is used to reach the finals at the end of May, which will be held as a only match in a neutral place.
The club’s players will be able to continue competing in their national leagues and, as soon as possible after the start of the men’s competition, a women’s league will be launched.