What they say about brazen project doomed to failure
The European Super League breakaway project appears to be dead in the water after Chelsea and Manchester City indicated their intention to withdraw last night.
It follows an angry response to news across the continent from senior figures in the game. The driving force behind it, Real Madrid president and Super League chairman Florentino Perez, spoke publicly for the first time to defend the project. But the general reaction was one of opprobrium...
Florentino Perez, European Super League chairman and Real Madrid president
“Whenever there is change, there are always people who oppose it. We are doing this to save football at this critical moment. If we continue with the Champions League there is less and less interest and then it's over. The new format which starts in 2024 is absurd. In 2024, we are all dead. I am convinced that Bayern Munich and PSG will join us in the end, but we have not yet spoken to them. You have to realise that what's happening now is like what happened in 2008 with the financial crash."
Ivan Gazidis, AC Milan chief executive
“We're confident that this new competition will capture the imagination of billions of soccer fans all over the world.”
Nasser Al-khelaifi, PSG president
“Paris Saint-germain holds the firm belief that football is a game for everyone. I have been consistent on this since the very beginning. As a football club, we are a family and a community whose fabric is our fans – I believe we shouldn't forget this. We believe that any proposal without the support of UEFA – an organisation that has been working to progress the interests of European football for nearly 70 years – does not resolve the issues currently facing the football community, but is instead driven by self-interest.”
Herbert Hainer, Bayern Munich president
“Our members and fans reject a Super League. As FC Bayern, it is our wish and our aim that European clubs live the wonderful and emotional competition that is the Champions League, and develop it together with UEFA. FC
Bayern says 'no' to the Super League.”
Pep Guardiola, Manchester City manager
“It is not a sport where the relation between effort and success does not exist. It is not a sport where success is already guaranteed. It is not a sport where it doesn't matter when you lose.”
Aleksander Ceferin, UEFA president
“UEFA competitions needs Atalanta, Celtic, Rangers,
Dinamo Zagreb and Galatasaray. People need to know everyone has a chance. We need to keep the dream alive."
John Kennedy, Celtic caretaker manager
"It is not for me, it very much takes away from the tradition of football and what it is about which is about the fans, the community and for me it is a case of the rich becoming richer. It becomes about greed at that point and not what football is about. Football started around fans, city and community and it is stripping all that away to go to look after the richer. So I am not a fan, I wouldn't support, or anyone at our club support it with the traditions we have at our club so I am wholly against it."
Luke Shaw, Manchester United defender
“There is so much passion around the world for football and I have been privileged to experience that first-hand, however I worry that these changes could impact the sport that I and millions of others love. Fans and players should always have a voice and their opinion should always be counted.”
Brendan Rodgers, Leicester City manager
“There has been a line drawn in the sand with all of this. It has moved across from what looks very much like a purely business proposal. All the merits of teams and rewards in sport, it looks like from the outside that isn't really taken into the ideas going forward.”
Alan Pace, Burnley chairman
“As a former financier, I understand the commercial considerations for these clubs and can appreciate their frustration at being the largest revenue drivers for the UEFA Champions League, without receiving the same levels of influence and reward. However, this is a move which does not treat fans or the game's history with the respect it deserves and is not the solution."
Alan Shearer, former England captain
“I would think that there are directors and people who help run their football clubs, they probably didn't even have a clue that this was coming out. This has probably just just come out from greedy owners who want their cake and to eat it. But when you look at the reaction over the last 36 hours, common sense would tell you that these clubs will have to go away and think, 'Have we really done the right thing here?'”
Pat Nevin, former Scotland and Chelsea midfielder
“The best thing to do when you realise something is wrong is hold your hand up and get out of it. Chelsea might pat themselves on the back and say 'we've destroyed this'. It is so obvious that it is going to fall apart now.”