Nine of European Super League rebel clubs commit to Uefa competitions
Nine of the clubs who joined the European Super League, including England’s big six, have signed a letter of apology recommitting themselves to Uefa and agreeing to give money to the grassroots game in recompense.
The agreement, described by Uefa’s president, Aleksander Ceferin, as showing the clubs’ “contrition and future commitment to European football”, means they will be able to compete in next year’s Uefa competitions, should they qualify.
The “same cannot be said” of the three remaining holdouts, according to Ceferin, with Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus now set to face disciplinary measures which could result in them being suspended from European competition for two years.
Amongst the terms agreed by the nine in the Club Commitment Declaration are a commitment to pay a collective sum of €15m which will be used to fund youth and grassroots football across Europe. Each club will also forfeit 5% of a season’s European revenues which would amount to just under €1m for clubs that reached the Champions League final. Some club owners, including those at Tottenham, Manchester United and Arsenal, are reported to have agreed to pick up the tab for the fines themselves.
Uefa has also extracted conditions that would seek to prevent an event similar to the Super League from ever happening again. Clubs would have to pay a €100m fine if they were ever to join an unauthorised competition. They must provide individual commitments to abiding by Uefa statutes, and any breach of the Commitment Declaration at all would result in a €50m fine.
Some aspects of the reconciliation may not be as onerous as they first appear. One commitment would see clubs commit to the terms of a memorandum of understanding agreed between Uefa and the European Clubs Association in 2019. The MOU, which determined control over the Champions League, was key to protests from the ECA led by the Juventus president, Andrea Agnelli, which directly preceded the launch of the Super League. That MOU is soon to be renegotiated, however, with sources in the game expecting the deal to give more power to the clubs all the same.
Reports also persist that Uefa will soon source new financial backing which could help the big clubs currently suffering financial shortfalls because of Covid, another driving factor in the attempted launch of the ESL.
Ceferin took a conciliatory tone in announcing agreement with the penitent nine. “It takes a strong organisation to admit making a mistake especially in these days of trial by social media. These clubs have done just that,” he said. “In accepting their commitments and willingness to repair the disruption they caused, Uefa wants to put this chapter behind it and move forward in a positive spirit. The measures announced are significant, but none of the financial penalties will be retained by Uefa. They will all be reinvested into youth and grassroots football in local communities across Europe, including the UK.”
When talking about Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus, however, he was less charitable. “[The nine] clubs recognised their mistakes quickly and
have taken action to demonstrate their contrition and future commitment to European football. The same cannot be said for the clubs that remain involved in the so-called ‘Super League’ and Uefa will deal with those clubs subsequently.”