By Antigoni Zachari / info@eurohoops.net
12 of Europe’s most elite football clubs, including Juventus, Manchester United, Liverpool, and Real Madrid have agreed in principle to the formation of a closed league, following the steps of EuroLeague – the first closed sports league in Europe – as it was revealed by the New York Times.
According to the report, the 12 founding members of the football “EuroLeague”, the “Super League”, so far contain six English, three Spanish and three Italian clubs, including EuroLeague founding members Real Madrid and Barcelona.
Additionally, the Times reports that Atlético Madrid is the other team from Spain that is said to have “endorsed” the project, while Internazionale is also in the discussion to join Juventus and Milan as Italy’s representatives.
UEFA’s reaction to the news of the agreement came quick, in the form of a joint statement with the federations of England, Spain, and Italy, warning the teams with a ban from domestic competitions, if the 12 clubs continue the pursuit of the closed league project.
The Super League was officially announced after midnight CET and it includes as founding members Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, and Tottenham from the UK, La Liga’s Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, and Real Madrid, and Serie A’s AC Milan, Inter Milan, and Juventus.
UPDATE: After three hectic days, in the first morning hours of the 21st of April, the European Super League project was suspended with the six English teams pulling out earlier and all the 12 clubs rejoining the UEFA Champions League which will be modified and secure more big clubs presence, plus it added seven more billion euros in revenues which are expected to be distributed mainly to English clubs.