Super League unravels as English teams exit
The Super League collapsed before a ball was kicked in the European breakaway competition after being abandoned by the six English clubs, leaving the Spanish and Italian participants stranded.
Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United, Manchester City and Tottenham throughout Tuesday evening deserted the proposal to launch a largely-closed midweek competition amid an escalating backlash from their supporters and warnings from the British government that legislation could be introduced to thwart it.
The Super League project was overseen by
Real Madrid President Florentino Perez, who also signed up Barcelona and Atletico Madrid in Spain, and Juventus, AC Milan and Inter Milan from Italy. The rival for the UEFA-run Champions League became unviable without the six clubs from the world’s richest league.
The remaining fledgling Super League organization was defiant, blaming “pressure” being applied for forcing out the English clubs and insisting the proposal complied with the law and could yet be revived in some form.
“Given the current circumstances,” the Super League said in a statement, “we shall reconsider the most appropriate steps to reshape the project, always having in mind our goals of offering fans the best experience possible while enhancing solidarity payments for the entire football community.”
The English clubs heeded the appeals from UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin to remain part of the Champions League, which has a qualification criteria based on a team’s performance in the domestic league.
As it became clear Chelsea and City were quitting the Super League on Tuesday evening, Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson and his teammates posted a message advocating staying within the open European competitions.
“We regret the anxiety and upset caused by the ESL proposal,” Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy said. “We felt it was important that our club participated in the development of a possible new structure that sought to better ensure financial fair play and financial sustainability whilst delivering significantly increased support for the wider football pyramid.”
The Premier League threatened to sanction the six rebel clubs and Prime Minister Boris Johnson considered introducing laws to stop them forming a new European competition he called a “cartel.”
Elsewhere: Cologne captain Jonas Hector scored twice for Cologne to upset Leipzig 2-1 and boost its chances of Bundesliga
survival . ... Schalke was finally relegated from the Bundesliga after a dismal season with a 1-0 loss at relegation rival Arminia Bielefeld.
ETC.
NFL: The Steelers gave coach Mike Tomlin a three-year contract extension, through 2024.
Tennis: Fifth-seeded
Roberto Bautista Agut defeated fellow Spaniard Pablo Andujar 6-4, 6-0 to advance to the round of 16 in the Barcelona Open. Seventh-seeded Denis Shapovalov defeated
Jeremy Chardy 6-3, 7-5, while David Goffin beat
Pierre-Hugues Herbert 6-2, 6-4.
College football: Youngstown State was placed on probation for two years and hit with recruiting sanctions by the NCAA after the school and the association agreed several rules violations were committed under former coach Bo Pelini.
Olympics: A group of athletes and human rights activists is calling on the IOC to sanction Iran’s Olympic program for what it says is the country’s long-running pattern of ordering athletes to avoid competing against Israelis in international events. The head of the United for Navid campaign, formed to protest the execution of Iranian wrestler Navid Afkari, sent a letter to IOC president Thomas Bach highlighting more than a half-dozen examples over 16 years of Iranian athletes intentionally losing matches that would set up meetings against Israelis.