Atletico Madrid became the first of the original founding members to reject the new format of the Superleague, after a European Court ruling declared UEFA and FIFA could not sanction breakaway clubs for joining the Superleague.
A number of La Liga and Segunda clubs joined La Liga in stating their opposition to the Superleague project. Los Rojiblancos, who also received significant backlash from their fans for joining the project initially in 2021. They then pulled out, and were the first to restate their position. In an official statement, they claimed the ruling pertained to old UEFA statutes, but more importantly, stated their opposition.
“The European football family does not want the European Super League. Germany, France, England, Italy, Spain (except for Real Madrid and Barcelona), etc. They don’t want the Super League. We are in favour of protecting the great family of European football, of protecting the domestic leagues and through them achieving qualification for European competitions on the field of play each season.”
They would then be joined by Manchester United in announcing their opposition. The UK government say they will seek to take it out of the Premier League club’s hands anyway, with a legal ruling banning them from doing so. Bayern Munich were never one of the founding members, but have also declared their opposition to the project.
A22, the Superleague organisers, gave a presentation of the new format on Thursday, explaining their plans for a 64-team Superleague divided into three divisions. The chief criticism of the project is that a team finishing top in their domestic league would likely only qualify for the equivalent of the Conference League were they not in European competition beforehand.
