Group in legal move to protect stars
THE European Super League has already taken steps to protect itself from any attempts by Uefa and Fifa to punish its member clubs and players.
If the plans succeed it would devastate existing European club competitions and in particular the Champions League. A joint statement including Uefa and the English, Italian and Spanish leagues said it would consider ‘all measures, both judicial and sporting’ to prevent the competition going ahead.
This could include attempts to bar the competing clubs from domestic leagues and their players from Uefa’s international competitions too.
World governing body Fifa has called for ‘calm, constructive dialogue’ to resolve the crisis, but the company behind the Super League has pre-emptively taken steps to protect itself against any legal challenges.
In a letter to the game’s governing bodies, the Super League wrote: ‘We are concerned that Fifa and Uefa may respond to this invitation letter by seeking to take punitive measures to exclude any participating club or player from their respective competitions.
‘We hope that is not your response to this letter and that, like us, your organisations will recognise the immediate benefits of the competition established by SLCo.
‘We also seek your co-operation and support on how the competition can be brought within the football ecosystem and work with us to achieve that.
‘Your formal statement does, however, compel us to take protective steps to secure ourselves against such an adverse reaction.
‘For this reason, SLCo has filed a motion before the relevant courts in order to ensure the seamless establishment and operation of the competition in accordance with applicable laws.’
The decision to go public on the Super League follows a disagreement among some clubs concerning the level of commercial control they would have over the new-look Champions League, which was yesterday approved by Uefa’s executive committee.