‘Big Six’ backlash begins
Plans for a Euro Super League meet with widespread condemnation
Europe’s richest football clubs were threatened yesterday with expulsion from their domestic leagues and warned their players would be barred from the World Cup if they went through with plans for a breakaway Super League.
The so-called “Big Six” in England — Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham — have joined leading clubs in Spain and Italy over a new, highly selective and largely closed competition that would effectively replace the Champions League.
The move, which represents a seismic challenge to the Premier League, Football Association and Uefa, would pave the way for the biggest shakeup of club football in a generation.
Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, AC Milan, Juventus and Inter Milan are also ready to join the new Super League but leading clubs in Germany and France, including Bayern Munich and Paris SaintGermain, have not yet signed up.
The proposals sparked a furious backlash, including:
● Prime Minister Boris Johnson urging the football authorities to take action over the “very damaging plans”.
● The Premier League writing directly to its 20 clubs to urge them to walk away “before irreparable damage is done”.
● The FA and Uefa warning it would not sanction a breakaway, meaning players and clubs could no longer compete in other official competitions.
● Retired players, led by Gary Neville, calling out the “imposter” owners of their former clubs and advocating points deductions.
● Fan groups lining up in opposition to a plan that they said was motivated by “cynical greed”.
● It is understood broadcaster DAZN, owned by billionaire Len Blavatnik’s Access Industries, is involved in the plans.
JP Morgan is believed to have held discussions about debt financing for the league and the three American owners of English football’s most successful clubs — John W Henry at Liverpool, Joel Glazer at Manchester United and Stan Kroenke at Arsenal — were reportedly being lined up for senior roles.
The dispute between Uefa and the leading English, Spanish and Italian clubs centres on the ownership of media and sponsorship rights to the Champions League. It has also followed previous suggestions for more guaranteed access to the competition or weekend games.
There is a strong feeling that Uefa enjoys excessive control and financial reward from the competition, even though the clubs are driving revenue and taking all the financial risk on wages and transfer fees.
The rebel clubs still want to continue playing in domestic competition and the plans, which could come into force next year, would relate to midweek European competition. The move comes just as a new 36-team Champions League format was due to be announced by Uefa today, before coming into force in 2024.
That format had been designed to resist persistent proposals for a new Super League. A meeting of the umbrella European Club Association was held on Saturday, however, and there was a major split over its potential benefits. And with a meeting of the Uefa executive committee today and then its congress due to be held tomorrow, the need for decisions has become urgent.
Uefa was last night still hoping to push forward with new plans for clubs to play 10 group matches instead of six but the prospect of an additional 100 before Christmas has been met with limited enthusiasm.
There was also still a feeling that this could be an extraordinary act of brinkmanship by the clubs ahead of further negotiations over their desire for more money and control of the Champions League, although planning for a new competition does appear more advanced than ever. After a weekend of emergency meetings, major governing bodies issued a series of statements.
A Premier League spokesperson said it “condemns any proposal that attacks the principles of open competition and sporting merit which are at the heart of the domestic and European football pyramid”.
In his letter to Premier League clubs, chief executive Richard Masters highlighted Rule L9 which forbids clubs from entering other competitions.
“I cannot envisage any scenario where such permission would be granted,” he wrote. “We call upon any club contemplating associating themselves or joining this venture to walk away immediately before irreparable damage is done.”