NEVILLE: ‘IT’S A DISGRACE’
the new venture. The Big Six have all held talks with Spain’s Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid, as well as Juventus, AC Milan and Inter Milan from Italy, over a breakaway.
But former United defender Neville vented his fury over their plans, describing it as a “criminal act against fans” and urging the Premier League to relegate them.
He said: “It’s an absolute disgrace and we have to wrestle back the power in this country from the clubs at the top of this league. That includes my club.
“They are an absolute joke and the time has come to stop these clubs having the power base. Enough is enough. The motivation is greed. Deduct them all points tomorrow, put them at the bottom of the league and take the money off them.
“You have to stamp on this. This is the biggest sport in the world and it’s a criminal act against the fans.”
The rebel clubs are demanding greater control and more reward and have also held talks with financial backers JP Morgan to set up their own European league in competition to the Champions League.
The shock development threatens to tear European football apart and comes on the eve of UEFA preparing to announce their new-look 36-team Champions League.
A strongly-worded statement from UEFA headquarters read: “We will consider all measures available to us, both judicial and sporting, in order to prevent this happening.
“The clubs concerned will be banned from playing in any other competition at domestic, European or world level, and their players could be denied the opportunity to represent their national teams.
Premier League bosses said: “The Premier League condemns any proposal that attacks the principles of open competition and merit which are at the heart of the domestic and European football pyramid.”
The European Club Association issued a statement last night insisting it was “opposed” to a “closed Super League model” and pledged to continue working with UEFA.
However, the ECA statement was not necessarily backed by its chairman, Juventus chief Andrea Agnelli, while the other rebel super clubs – including the Premier League’s Big Six – either stayed away or kept silent at an emergency meeting on Sunday evening.