The group which represents hundreds of European football teams, including Liverpool, Manchester City and Bayern Munich, has rejected the latest attempt to revive a European Super League project, calling it a “disruptive” campaign led by ” interested separatist clubs.”
Sky News has obtained a memo distributed to the board of directors of the European Club Association (ECA) by its chairman, Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser Al-Khelaïfi, in which he accuses the architects of the renamed Unify League of having “desperately wanted” publicity.
The strong message, which has not been made public, highlights both the deep fissures that continue to exist between some of European football’s elite and the challenges facing A22, the group behind the new project , is faced with getting a rival tournament off the ground.
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A22 said this week that the Unify League – which reportedly aims to usurp the UEFA Champions League – had submitted proposals to FIFA and UEFA for a 96-team competition across four divisions.
It plans to release the games on a bespoke free streaming platform rather than selling the rights to broadcast partners.
The original European Super League (ESL) plan, details of which were exclusively revealed by Sky News in autumn 2020, was effectively blocked by UEFA, with a ruling from the European Court of Justice last year concluding that this veto was illegal.
Six English Premier League clubs – Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur – joined the ESL’s original ranks, but quickly withdrew after a huge backlash from fans and politicians.
The club participation plan is seen as one of the main catalysts for the creation of a new regulator for English football, for which the government is in the process of recruiting a new chairman.
All six English teams were fined by UEFA and the Premier League and pledged not to pursue a comparable project in the future.
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Juventus and Real Madrid also backed the ESL breakaway, whose initial plan was undermined by the closed nature of the new league – which A22 claims has been resolved by the new format unveiled this week.
Since the original ESL project was officially announced in April 2021, world football’s governing body FIFA has announced details of an expanded Club World Cup, which will take place next summer and be broadcast for free on the sports streaming platform DAZN.
In his note to the ECA board this week, Mr Al-Khelaifi described A22 as “a consultancy company working for Real Madrid”, adding: “This is the third Christmas period where consultants in Totally unrepresentative management and interested separatist clubs sought to break away. European and world football, each time with a slightly adapted and renamed project, but always supported by the same motivations and created solely for their own benefit.
The ECA president said he was “in constant contact with UEFA, FIFA and other stakeholders, and of course our members, on this issue – as is our management team”.
He said the Unify League’s proposal was “nothing new at all” and “just the latest in a long line of public relations attempts by A22 to draw attention to their disruptive cause, which consists of undermining the constructive and progressive partnership that the ECA maintains with UEFA”. .
“In response to a cynical communications campaign against European club football, we need to be smart – and make sure all 731 members of our clubs know our position and the facts,” he wrote.
“UEFA and FIFA, for their part, will review the latest communications from the A22 and respond – only if necessary – in the new year.”
A football insider highlighted the close relationship between Mr Al-Khelaifi and Aleksander Ceferin, the UEFA president, as one of the factors behind the vehemence of the ECA’s response to the Unify League.
Mr Al-Khelaifi, who is among the most powerful figures in world football, accused A22 of “explicitly disregarding” the rules of financial viability of the sport, “which are so important to guarantee the balance and controls of the competition “.
He also said Unify League supporters had not been transparent about “who was actually running and funding them”, adding that their plans would harm Europe’s national soccer leagues.
“They argue that the current UCC format leads to predictable results and a decrease in public enthusiasm, but the reality – just months after the launch of the new UCC formats – is simply not true; all the while, their proposal is essentially the same, just with (fewer) teams,” he told board members.
“They are also rallying against a crowded schedule, while proposing nothing at all that would change that.”
Bernd Reichart, CEO of A22, said this week that it was focused “on ensuring the sustainable growth and development of football”.
“Our in-depth engagement with key stakeholders has revealed a number of pressing challenges facing the sport, including rising subscription costs for supporters, an overcrowded player calendar, insufficient investment in women’s football and dissatisfaction with the format and governance of current pan-European competitions.
“Our proposal is designed to directly address these challenges. »
A source close to A22 said: “Clubs and others should be free to come up with new ideas to improve football without threats, implicit or otherwise.
“Without new ideas, there can be no progress.
“Not everyone will agree on everything, but criticism must be based on facts, which means it is important to read and understand our proposal and then engage constructively.”