The European Super League: May’s Recap

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Photo Courtesy of Slate

Christian Pulisic, also referred to as “Captain America,” being the youngest American to ever lift the Champions League trophy.

A league that allows the top football teams of each European league to face each other has come to an end.

The first idea that comes to a footballer’s mind is the UEFA Champions League, but in this case, we are not talking about UEFA’s league, nor a FIFA-led league; but Real Madrid’s president Florentino Perez’ new European Super League. The European Super League’s brief 48-hour life has come to an urgent stop this week after all of the drama and fan reactions it has caused.

The announcement of the creation of the European Super League was aired on Monday, April 20th with the twelve teams who were considered the best of the top of best, the twelve teams being Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Juventus, Inter de Milan, Milan AC, Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur, and Arsenal. These twelve teams also happen to be the top 12 richest clubs in the world. 

As soon as the announcement was placed, the FIFA and UEFA shared their thoughts instantly, as the President of FIFA said, “We can only strongly disapprove the creation of the Super League, a Super League which is a closed shop, which is a breakaway from the current institutions, from the leagues, from the associations, from UEFA, and from FIFA.” All clubs were threatened from being banned from their domestic leagues, and players were to be permanently banned from playing in the World Cup. These actions were confirmed in a tweet posted by Fabrizio Romano famous football news reported who tweeted out, “UEFA’S Alexander Ceferin confirms, The players that will play in the Super League will be banned from playing in the World Cup and Euros, they will not be allowed play for their national teams.” was able to confirm it. 

Why is the super league considered the “end of football league?”

The European Super League revolves around twelve of the richest teams around Europe and is co-funded by J.P Morgan of Chase, a huge aid for the league that will kick start its jerseys, TV Time, and advertising. Money will revolve around the League’s atmosphere–because of the prioritization of wealth, smaller, poorer teams around Europe will never have a chance to win the so-called “Super” League.

This idea, to many fans, is a brutal choice, and these fans have sided with the opposers to the European Super League, saying, “Created by the poor, stolen by the rich,” due to the fact that the biggest teams in Europe will leave the domestic league that made them famous. These clubs’ actions of leaving their proper domestic league was a major backstab for the fans who led them to fame and riches.

Most blame the clubs as a whole, but the real culprit behind this huge scandal are not the players, but the club owners. Many fans believe that FIFA is going too hard on the players and instead need a stronger penalty on the owners to show them that football isn’t just a business but a passion. 

A week has passed since the announcement, and the fans and FIFA backlash has been heard. Up to nine teams have now officially left any agreements with Florentino’s Super League. Each team has posted a public apology on their social media platforms. Fans and reporters believe that FIFA and UEFA should punish all 12 teams for even coming in contact with the branch away league.

Should FIFA and UEFA punish all 12 teams for their actions even though they did not know the consequences coming, or should they be pardoned, and be given a warning for all actions? This was the question many wondered, for this reason, I was able to reach out to a local friend who follows football, especially a team associated with the European Super League. Adrian Castro a long-time follower of Manchester United an English team participating in the European Super League was able to give me his output. He claimed,’ The European super league would be a disgrace to football, although the idea of it seems fun and exciting the concept is the killer. We already have a fair and honorable league based on that, the champions league, we should not have another league that will act better than every domestic league out there. Another problem is I don’t want to have to sacrifice seeing my favorite world cup players win the biggest tournament in the world.” The points made are most main reasons why people tend to dislike the league. 

Now the question raps back around, should FIFA and UEFA punish all 12 teams for their actions even though they did not know the consequences coming, or should they be pardoned, and be given a warning for all actions?