What was once 12 could be now just 10 as clubs involved with the first iteration of the doomed European Super League are set to launch a new plan with rumours claiming it will be without Arsenal and Tottenham.
It was revealed last week that a new European Super League would be launched this week, it’s founders cynically trying to use the Russian invasion of Ukraine to minimise attention and outrage.
Three of the original European Super League founders – Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus – never withdrew from the original plan but it was a surprise to see the other English clubs back on the list.
The 10 founding members of the new, revised European Super League will apparently be:
- Real Madrid
- Barcelona
- Atletico Madrid
- Manchester United
- Manchester City
- Liverpool
- Chelsea
- Juventus
- Inter Milan
- AC Milan
https://twitter.com/TheSpursExpress/status/1499336035775528961
That tweet details the website vozpopuli.com, which is now the basis for all articles currently appearing before any official announcement.
The issue, however, is that I’ve not been able to locate any articles on their site that state it will be 10 teams and not 12, so there is every chance that Arsenal and Spurs are still involved.
There is also a report by the Telegraph that none of the Premier League sides want to return.
The new European Super League will launch without ‘legacy’ places meaning no side is guaranteed to keep their place.
Juventus’ president, and leading driver behind the project as the Super League’s vice president, Andrea Agnelli, is expected to make the announcement on Thursday, 3 March after 11 months of discussions and renegotiations.
It’s not clear what cost Arsenal’s withdrawal will come at, if they have indeed withdrawn from the agreement they signed. The initial 12 clubs all signed binding contracts and Real Madrid’s Florentino Perez said last April that the league was only on hold due to this.
The sides involved are currently waiting on a decision from the Court of Arbitration in Sport over what they claim is UEFA’s monopoly in European football.
A decision is expected between June and December 2022, at which point further details for the European Super League will apparently be released.
Speaking to the media, UEFA’s president, Aleksander Ceferin, hit out at the sides involved for restarting this ‘nonsense’ in the middle of a war.
“I’m sick and tired of speaking of this non-football project,” Ceferin said.
“Look, first they launched their nonsense of an idea in the middle of a pandemic; now we’re reading articles every day that they are planning to launch another idea now in the middle of a war.
“Do I have to speak more about those people? They obviously live in a parallel world.
“And while we are saving players together with other stakeholders, while we are working to help in a terrible situation, they work on a project like that.”
