Izuchukwu Okosi
Five clubs have indicated they want no involvement in the ESL, with a senior executive from a London team describing the latest push as “all hot air.”
“There is no ‘who’ or ‘how’, nor any demonstrable mechanisms and substance. It’s laughable,” the senior executive added.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelResistance from the Premier League was expected by the rebel three – Barcelona, Real Madrid and Juventus – still peddling the failed project.
The division’s 2022-23 owners’ charter, designed to avert any future breakaway threat and signed by all 20 teams, reads:
“We are collectively committed to the Premier League and recognise our responsibility to support it. We will not engage in the creation of new competition formats outside of the Premier League’s rules.
So, while the ESL’s first attempt at a breakaway hinged on participation from England’s elite, the approach now has been to spark backing across the continent by attacking the top-flight’s wealth.
A tone of exclusion is further underlined by the final principle of their manifesto stating a ‘respect for European Union law and values’, which is not applicable to England’s pyramid.
The ESL’s latest move is seen as a desperate attempt to generate goodwill ahead of the European Court of Justice’s ruling later this year on the legitimate power of UEFA over club competitions.
When asked whether the Super League needs to have Premier League teams in order for it to thrive, A22 chief executive Bernd Reichart admitted English teams are not a necessity.
“This project is not dependent on one specific territory to join,” he exclusively told Sky Sports News on Thursday.
“I’m not excluding anything. Our wish would be to have the best European tournament. That continues to be the objective.
“We believe the other European club competitions are not living up to its potentials. European club competitions should be exciting. We think the first phases have a lot of inconsequential matches which could be filled with so much more excitement.
The Premier League is a good example of how they produce the best matches with top players.
“If one country, FA, one league is not able to join and will not join the European competition that is brought on the way, this project will not die.
The ESL was dealt a blow in December when the non-binding advice from advocate-general Athanasios Rantos to the court was that the restrictions UEFA and FIFA assert over football are compatible with EU competition law.
Premier League executives met on Thursday to discuss long-term strategic plans for the competition ahead of the regular shareholders’ meeting on Friday.
This was already in the diary before the ESL press release was circulated.
Opposition to the new version of the ESL has not just stemmed from England, with LaLiga’s statement comparing it to “the wolf in the story of Little Red Riding Hood”.
“It is disguising itself as an open and meritocratic competition, but underneath there is still the same selfish, elitist and greed-driven project. Don’t let their tales fool you,” added the Spanish top flight.
LaLiga president Javier Tebas said: “The Super League is the wolf, who today disguises himself as a granny to try to fool European football, but HIS nose and HIS teeth are very big.
“Four divisions in Europe? Of course the first for them, as in the 2019 reform. Government of the clubs? Of course only the big ones.”
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
