The issue of the European Super League (ESL) is back to the surface. Based on the ESPN report, UEFA as the parent of European football is preparing sanctions for the four teams that have not resigned from the ESL.
The European Super League was declared on Monday (19/4/2021). However, only 48 hours later or Wednesday (21/4/2021), the discourse on holding an ESL was suspended following the withdrawal of 8 of the 12 founding clubs of the competition. The 8 teams are Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal, Inter Milan and Atletico Madrid.
The withdrawal of the eight teams was inseparable from a wave of protests and threats from UEFA and FIFA which firmly prohibited European Super League participants from appearing in competitions under their auspices. Atletico Madrid, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur have reportedly reached an agreement to remain loyal to the competition under UEFA. Meanwhile, Inter Milan are reportedly close to reaching an agreement with UEFA.
Now, the remaining four clubs are still in the European Super League, namely Real Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus and AC Milan. UEFA has also prepared tough sanctions for the four clubs in the form of bans from appearing in the Champions League and Europa League for two years.
This is because Real Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus and AC Milan are deemed to have violated Article 51 of the UEFA statute. In this article, it is explained that UEFA member clubs may not form alliances to create other competitions without UEFA’s permission. “No combination or alliance between affiliated clubs, directly or indirectly, with different UEFA members can be formed without UEFA’s permission,” the article reads. However, the four clubs who survived in the European Super League did not heed the threat of UEFA.
Real Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus and AC Milan insist that they have sought permission from UEFA and FIFA regarding the idea of establishing ESL. In addition, instead of breaking away from the European Super League, the four teams above demanded UEFA to give recognition to the competition.
Earlier, UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin had confirmed that the 12 ESL founding clubs would each receive sanctions. “Everyone has to have consequences for what they did and we can’t pretend nothing happened,” Ceferin said.
“For me, there are clear differences between the Premier League clubs and the other six teams. They (6 Premier League teams) withdrew first and admit their mistakes. I think there are three groups out of these 12 teams. Six English clubs who left first, then the three teams that followed (Atletico Madrid, AC Milan and Inter Milan) and people who thought the European Super League was still there (Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Juventus). There is a big difference between the teams. However, everyone will be responsible. In what way, we will see,” said Aleksander Ceferin.
