The group which represents hundreds of European football teams including Liverpool, Manchester City and Bayern Munich has dismissed the latest bid to revive a European Super League project as a “disruptive” campaign led by “separatist self-interested clubs”.
Sky News has obtained a memo circulated to the board of the European Club Association (ECA) by its chairman, the Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser Al-Khelaïfi, in which he accuses the architects of the rebranded Unify League of “desperately crav[ing]” publicity.
The strongly worded message, which has not been publicly released, underlines both the deep fissures which continue to exist between some of Europe’s footballing elite and the challenges that A22, the group behind the new project, faces in getting a rival tournament off the ground.
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A22 said this week that the Unify League – which would be designed to usurp UEFA’s Champions League tournament – had submitted proposals for a 96-team, four-division competition to FIFA and UEFA.
It plans to show the games on a bespoke free-to-air streaming platform rather than selling the rights to broadcast partners.
The original European Super League (ESL) project, details of which were exclusively revealed by Sky News in the autumn of 2020, was effectively blocked by UEFA, with a European Court of Justice ruling last year concluding that that veto had been unlawful.
Juventus v Manchester City in a recent UEFA Champions League fixture. Pic: PA
Six English Premier League clubs – Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur – joined the original ESL ranks, but rapidly withdrew after a huge backlash from fans and politicians.
The clubs’ plan to participate is viewed as one of the principal catalysts for the creation of a new English football regulator, for which the government is in the process of recruiting a new chair.
The six English sides were fined by both UEFA and the Premier League, and have vowed not to pursue any comparable project in future.
Juventus and Real Madrid were also backers of the ESL breakaway, whose original blueprint was undermined by the closed nature of the new league – which A22 says has been addressed by the new format unveiled this week.
Real Madrid and England’s Jude Bellingham celebrates winning the Champions League in June. Pic: Reuters
Since the original ESL project was formally announced in April 2021, the world football governing body, FIFA, has announced details of an expanded Club World Cup, which will take place next summer and be broadcast for free on the sports streaming platform DAZN.
In his memo to the ECA board this week, Mr Al-Khelaifi labelled A22 a “consultancy company working for Real Madrid”, adding: “This is the third Christmas period where completely unrepresentative management consultants and separatist self-interested clubs have sought to break up European and world football, each time with a slightly adapted and re-branded project, but always underpinned by the same motivations and solely created for their own benefit.”
The ECA chair said he was “in constant touch with UEFA, FIFA and other stakeholders, and of course our members, on this matter – as is our management team”.
He said the Unify League proposal was “nothing new at all” and “just the latest in a long line of PR attempts by A22 to draw attention to their disruptive cause, which is to undermine the constructive and progressive partnership that ECA has with UEFA”.
“In response to a cynical communications campaign against European club football, we must be smart – and make sure all our 731 club members know our position and the facts,” he wrote.
“UEFA and FIFA, for their parts, will review the latest communications from A22 and respond – only if necessary – in the New Year.”
One football insider pointed to the close relationship between Mr Al-Khelaifi and Aleksander Ceferin, the UEFA president, as one of the factors underpinning the vehemence of the ECA’s response to the Unify League.
UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin. Pic: Reuters
Mr Al-Khelaifi, who ranks among the most powerful figures in world football, accused A22 of having “explicit disregard” for the sport’s financial sustainability rules, “which are so important in ensuring competitive balance and controls”.
He also said the Unify League backers had failed to be transparent about “who actually runs and funds them”, adding that their plans would undermine Europe’s domestic football leagues.
“They argue that the current format of the UCCs results in predictable outcomes and diminishing excitement for audiences, but the reality – after only a few months since the new UCC formats launched – is simply not true; all the while their proposal is essentially the same, just with [fewer] teams,” he told board members.
“They also rally against a congested calendar, while at the same time proposing nothing at all that changes this.”
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Bernd Reichart, CEO of A22, said this week that it was “focused on ensuring the sustainable growth and development of football”.
“Our extensive engagement with key stakeholders revealed a number of pressing challenges facing the sport including increasing subscription costs for fans, an overloaded player calendar, insufficient investment in women’s football, and dissatisfaction with the format and governance of the current pan-European competitions.
“Our proposal is designed to directly address these challenges.”
Bernd Reichart, CEO of A22, the company behind attempts to create a European Super League in football to rival UEFA’s Champions League. Pic: Reuters
A source close to A22 said: “Clubs and others should be free to propose new ideas to improve football without threats, implied or otherwise.
“Without new ideas, there can be no progress.
“Not everyone will agree on everything, but criticism should be based on the facts – which means it’s important to read and understand our proposal and then engage in a constructive manner.”