According to A22 CEO Bernd Reichart, a revamped European Super League would be a tournament without any permanent members and based on athletic accomplishment.
An organization called A22 Sports Management is advocating a redesigned European league.
The business supported a 12-club ESL proposal in 2021, but it was rejected as a result of public outcry.
According to Reichart, “the very underpinnings of European football are in danger of crumbling.”
“Time for a change has come. In football, the clubs are those who take the business risk.
However, they are frequently forced to watch helplessly as the financial and sporting foundations collapse around them when crucial decisions are at risk.
Timeline for the European Super League: the turbulent 72 hours in football
20 teams were originally planned for the ESL in 2021, including 12 founding members, three nameless clubs, and five clubs that would have annually qualified depending on their domestic accomplishments.
Following substantial criticism, Tottenham, Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal, Chelsea, and Liverpool withdrew from the project within 48 hours.
However, Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Juventus continue to advocate for an ESL.
According to Reichart, the new ESL would feature 60 to 80 teams. Each team would be guaranteed a minimum of 14 games each season and would still compete in their respective domestic leagues. A22 didn’t go into additional detail about the format.
Uefa and Fifa garnered a lot of support in December for their campaign to prevent the formation of a European Super League.
The European Court of Justice’s advocate general stated in a report that the world and European football governing bodies’ regulations were “compliant with EU competition law.”
By threatening to penalize clubs and players who joined a breakaway league, it was alleged that Uefa and Fifa were violating the legislation on fair competition.
A 15-member Grand Chamber will render a decision in the spring.
The wolf is Super League, says Tebas
A22 has maintained a “comprehensive engagement with stakeholders across Europe on the future of club football” in spite of the decision.
Additionally, it has created ten guiding principles, which would serve as the framework for the new ESL and include broad-based, meritocratic tournaments as well as funding and development for women’s football.
Our discussions have also demonstrated that clubs frequently find it difficult to publicly criticize a system that stifles resistance by threatening punishment, said Reichart.
“Our conversation was open, sincere, and productive, and it produced clear ideas about what needs to change and how it may be done.
“There is plenty to do, and we will keep talking.”
Javier Tebas, the president of La Liga, has criticized the ESL and criticized the new ideas.
He claimed on social media that “The Super League is the wolf, who today pretends to be a granny to attempt to dupe European football.”
“But with four divisions in Europe, his nose and teeth are enormous. Naturally, it’s the first for them in terms of the 2019 change. ruled over by the clubs? Naturally, only the large ones.”
Kevin Miles, the chief executive of the Football Supporters’ Association, also criticized the new ESL ideas, claiming that the Champions League already had an open competition.
The European Super League, which Miles described as “a walking corpse,” twitches once again with all the self-awareness one would expect from a zombie.
The European Zombie League continues to march despite claims that “conversation with fans and independent fan groups is necessary” and “wilfully oblivious of the disgust supporters throughout the continent have for it.”
A22 was charged with being in a “alternative world” by the European Club Association (ECA), whose chairman is Nasser Al-Khelaifi, the president of Paris St. Germain.
“In the real world, this recycled proposal has previously been suggested, examined, and thoroughly rejected by all parties in 2019,” it continued.
The ECA emphasized the progress being made “with all football stakeholders… working for the benefit of the whole European football ecosystem” while reiterating its “long-standing opposition” to the ESL and any breakaway movement.
Uefa approved modifications to the Champions League last year, increasing the number of clubs in the group stage from 32 to 36 for the 2024–25 season.
The first phase of the new format will have a single league table that includes all teams.
Each will play eight group-stage games—four at home and four away—against various opponents.
The top eight will advance to the knockout round, while places ninth through 24th will face off in a two-leg play-off to advance.
The Europa League (eight matches in the league stage) and Europa Conference League (six matches in the league stage) will both have 36 clubs in the league phase, according to Uefa, and similar format alterations will also be implemented there.
The ECA also said: “Every season beginning in 2024, more clubs from more nations will compete in the European Men’s Club Competitions, fostering a greater love of the game and substantially increasing the amount of money shared.
“Other sectors of the game, such as women’s football, youth and academy development, financing and regulation, sustainability, and social effect, have made significant strides.
“This is how real change manifests itself. Since we’ve advanced, when will A22?”
Analysis
Simon Stone, a football reporter for BBC Sport
A22 are still promoting the Super League, although the original idea of a single 20-team league, 15 of which would be permanent members, is very different from the idea of greater mobility amongst more clubs and no one being ringfenced.
The obvious issue is that there doesn’t seem to be a solution because the original concept was received so poorly.
The European Clubs’ Association (ECA) and Uefa are now more aligned than ever. Aleksander Ceferin, president of Uefa, and Nasser Al-Khelaifi, head of the ECA, have similar outlooks on the future. Overcoming that will be challenging.
The story’s plot will be shaped by the European Court of Justice’s decision on Uefa’s standing, which is scheduled to be released in the spring. Given that the domestic leagues are on Uefa’s side, the Advocate General’s view, which was published in December and stated that Uefa should permit rival tournaments but was thereafter within its rights to reject entry into its own, didn’t sound good for the Super League concept.
The ECJ’s ruling, in A22’s opinion, will give additional leeway.
Real Madrid, Juventus, and Barcelona, their three remaining clubs, will continue to watch with envy as the Premier League, which many people believe has become a Super League in everything but name, continues to expand.
