After the “Big Six” of the Premier League, now it is Inter Milan and Atletico Madrid’s turn to withdraw from the European Super League. The world of football has recently been shocked by the European Super League project initiated by 12 European elite teams.
The 12 teams in question are Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus, Inter Milan, AC Milan, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur. The 12 elite clubs declared on Monday (19/4/2021) that the European Super League (ESL) is the new chapter of European football.
The competition is scheduled to start in August 2021 with a total of 20 teams. A total of 15 teams (12 founding clubs + 3 other pioneering clubs) will become permanent participants with the remaining five teams each year being contested by other clubs.
However, ESL’s existence did not last more than three days following a wave of protests from supporters and football figures who denounced the project. Six Premier League clubs, namely Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur, have decided to leave ESL. They said their goodbyes to the European Super League through an official statement released.
The decision of the “Big Six” Premier League team finally made the ESL officially suspended as of Wednesday (21/4/2021). After the six English teams above, it is now Inter Milan and Atletico Madrid’s turn to decide to withdraw from the tournament.
“Inter Milan confirms that the club is no longer part of the Super League project,” read a statement from Inter Milan on their official website. “We are always committed to providing the best football experience to the fans. Our relationship with all stakeholders to develop the football industry will never change. With this, we hope to continue working with a number of institutions and stakeholders for the future of the sport that we all love.”
The same thing was conveyed by Atletico Madrid through an official statement on the club’s official website on Wednesday (21/4/2021). “Atletico Madrid’s board of directors met on Wednesday morning and decided to withdraw from the Super League project. Atletico Madrid decided to take part in the tournament because of a project that is no longer running at this time. For the club, harmony between the club and the fans is very important. The coach and the players are satisfied with this club’s decision because they understand that sporting achievements should take precedence over others,” said a statement from Atletico Madrid.
Practically, there are only four teams that are still “remained”, namely Real Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus and AC Milan. However, Barcelona and AC Milan are reportedly preparing to follow the steps of eight other teams to withdraw from ESL.
Barcelona had a clause in the European Super League agreement that could make the team nicknamed the Blaugrana leave the project without hindrance. The clause is that Barcelona will only join the European Super League if socios or the members agree to it. This clause was included by the President of Barcelona, Joan Laporta, when he signed the European Super League participation document on Saturday (17/4/2021) local time.
On the other hand, Italian transfer expert Fabrizio Romano claims AC Milan will also withdraw from the European Super League. However, the team nicknamed the Rossoneri has not provided an official statement until now.
