# European soccer’s ‘Super League’ has thrown the sport into chaos. What is it all about?

What is it and what does it all mean?

The breakaway league has been formed by an elite group of 12 soccer clubs: AC Milan, Arsenal, Atlético Madrid, Chelsea, Barcelona, Inter Milan, Juventus
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Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Real Madrid and Tottenham. Three more clubs are expected to join as founding members.

Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United
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all have U.S. owners: Los Angeles Rams owner Stan Kroenke; Fenway Sports Group; and the Glazer family. Joel Glazer and Kroenke are both vice-chairmen on the new league, along with Liverpool’s John Henry.

U.S. investment bank JPMorgan
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is reportedly funding the new league, underwriting an initial €3.5 billion ($4.2 billion) investment. 

The league is designed to be a midweek competition, comprising 20 clubs — 15 founding clubs and a further five through qualification. It would rival the current Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Champions League, the continent’s premier club competition and one of the world’s most lucrative sporting events.

The 15 founding members would always compete in the ESL and could never be relegated, taking away the element of competition and qualification. Teams currently qualify for the Champions League through their own domestic leagues.

Why?

Europe’s elite clubs have been pushing for changes to the Champions League in recent years. Essentially, they want more matches against each other and a bigger slice of the pie. At the moment, the UEFA, Europe’s governing body, decides how to distribute revenue generated from its competitions.

The UEFA has made reforms in the hope it would stop the formation of a breakaway league — the changes were announced on Monday.

But the changes were clearly not enough, and the so-called ‘Dirty Dozen’ announced the breakaway league just hours before the UEFA’s announcement.

The Super League said the new tournament would provide “significantly greater economic growth” and support for European soccer. Clubs will receive solidarity payments in line with the competition’s revenue, which are expected to be in excess of €10 billion and substantially higher than from existing competitions. 

The founding clubs would receive a combined €3.5 billion to support “infrastructure investment plans” and to offset the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The league would also be free to strike new broadcasting deals, again choosing how to distribute the revenue. In theory it could explore deals with streaming giants such as Amazon
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Disney
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and Netflix
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The fallout

The backlash has been fiery to say the least, with many criticizing the greed of the clubs involved and claiming the new, largely closed league would ruin domestic leagues and the integrity of the sport. In fact, you would be hard pressed to find anyone — outside of the 12 clubs’ owners — who is positive about it.

The sport’s governing bodies have strongly condemned the idea, with the UEFA describing it as a “cynical project founded on the self-interest of a few clubs at a time when society needs solidarity more than ever.” The UEFA is also considering legal and sporting measures to stop the move.

The UEFA also said that clubs signing up to the Super League would be banned from all other competitions. That means, for example, Arsenal, Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea, Man City and Tottenham would be kicked out of the English Premier League.

Any players involved could also be banned from playing for their countries at the World Cup by the world’s governing body, FIFA.

Will it happen?

The timing of the announcement, on the eve of the UEFA’s own reforms package, has led to speculation that it is merely posturing by the 12 clubs in an attempt to push through changes. However, the clubs have gone further than many expected if they are indeed playing a game of bluff.

Football authorities, along with the clubs not involved in the Super League, called urgent meetings on Monday as they scrambled to respond and resolve the chaos.

German giants Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund and France’s Paris Saint-Germain have chosen not to join, in an early blow to the potential league.

Former Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger, who is now the FIFA head of global football development, told TalkSport the idea “will not go far.” 

“I would say it’s a bad idea. Football has to stay united, it’s the most important thing. It’s based on sporting merit and to respect the history that has been built from European football,” he said.

JPMorgan was approached for comment.

From the archives (May 2016): Leicester City overcomes history and 5,000-to-1 odds to win Premier League