The Superleague, Barcelona and Real Madrid celebrated the European Court ruling that gave them the freedom to setup a new European competition without the threat of sanctions from UEFA or FIFA on Thursday morning. However it looks as if any Superleague will not be compatible with the Premier League clubs.
The six English sides that tried to sign up initially (Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur) faced immediate backlash, as well as pressure from the government to pull out of the competition.
Shortly after the court ruling, a spokesperson for the British government told the Independent that whether the Premier League clubs involved wanted to join or not, it would be taken out of their hands.
“The attempt to create a breakaway competition was a defining moment in English football and was universally condemned by fans, clubs and the Government.”
“We took decisive action at the time by triggering the fan-led review of football governance, which called for the creation of a new independent regulator for English football.”
“We will shortly be bringing forward legislation that makes this a reality, and will stop clubs from joining any similar breakaway competitions in the future.”
This of course does not prevent the rest of Europe from signing up to the competition, but a competition without the major star pull of the Premier League would be significantly weaker, and bring into question just how much more of a financial incentive there would be.
Shortly after the ruling, Superleague organisers A22 presented a proposal for the new competition, which would involve 64 teams in three leagues before a knockout system to determine the winners. It is not dissimilar to that of the Champions League, Europa League and Conference league, but qualification would be determined not purely on league position every season. There would also be more games in the league phase and less knockout games.
