A dozen of Europe’s richest and most successful soccer clubs have announced their intention to form a closed “Super League” of professional teams, creating an uproar in the world of European sports.
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The new league, financed by a $6 billion loan from JPMorgan
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would include 15 founder member teams and five other teams selected from national championships that would compete weekly throughout the year.
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It aims to replace the current Champions League, Europe’s most prestigious soccer tournament, which is currently open each year to the three or four top teams from each member of the Union of European Football Associations.
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The UEFA, as well as most national championships, has threatened to ban the teams that would participate in the Super League, which include England’s top names such as Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester United
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as well as Spain’s Real Madrid and Italy’s Juventus
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among others.
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French President Emmanuel Macron as well as U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson joined the furor on Monday to say they would support efforts to scuttle the attempt to create the Super League, which Johnson said would “strike at the heart of the domestic game.”
The outlook: No French or German clubs have joined the breakaway attempt, and the furor, coupled with government hostility, could bring it to a quick end. But the rebels may have engaged in a power play to extract concessions on, among others, the sharing of revenue from the Champions League matches.
Read: Soccer clubs jump on proposal for elite Super League
