New plans for the European Super League see 80 clubs in UEFA Champions League rivals

Revised plans for a European Super League would see up to 80 teams participate but no permanent members as organizers prepare for another clash with UEFA.

A22, the company that wants to keep the idea alive after the disastrous launch of the Super League project in April 2021, has outlined plans for a new competition to challenge the Champions League.

They say their latest iteration of the Super League idea would not require clubs to leave their domestic competitions.

It comes as three of the original rebels – Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus – continue their battle with the governing body of European football.

A22 made the announcement in various European newspapers on Thursday, claiming the plans were drawn up after extensive discussions with clubs across the continent.

New plans for a European Super League have been unveiled following a failed attempt to launch a breakaway competition in April 2021

Bernd Reichart, head of the company A22, is trying to revive the idea of ​​a Super League

It comes amid growing concerns about the financial might of the English Premier League, whose 20 clubs spent a combined £815million in the January window.

For comparison: the total expenditure of the first division clubs in Spain, Italy, France and Germany together amounted to just over a quarter of this sum.

A22 and the European Super League are likely to use the growing financial rift between the Premier League and their rivals as the main argument for their revised plans.

The main reasons for this are the Premier League’s ability to achieve extremely lucrative international television deals and looser financial constraints.

The document “Ten Principles for a European Football League” with the new plans begins with the words: “European football is on the brink of the abyss.

“Huge imbalances have emerged on our continent and traditional European clubs with glorious pasts can no longer compete today.”

The new competition would be multi-divisional and feature between 60 and 80 teams with a minimum of 14 games per club per season.

Crucially, there will be no permanent members, raising the prospect of a promotion and relegation system between divisions and a performance-based system for entering the competition.

UEFA, led by Aleksander Ceferin, is fighting the Super League rebels in a court case

The original plans were originally announced in April 2021 but fell apart within 48 hours when the six Premier League clubs resigned amid fierce backlash from fans

Supporters, particularly of the six Premier League clubs looking to break away in 2021, were outraged that the Super League was a “closed shop” with no risk of relegation.

There are no details yet on how the 60-80 teams would be organized and who would be selected, but the competition would certainly pose an existential threat to the Champions League if it materialized.

A22 CEO Bernd Reichart attacked UEFA again in the ongoing legal dispute.

“Last October we started an open dialogue process about the future of European football. Since then we have spoken to almost 50 clubs and other industry players and almost all of them conclude that the foundations on which European football is built are under serious threat. It’s time to make changes.

“The entrepreneurial risk in football is borne by the clubs. But when it comes to important decisions, too often they have to sit idly by on the sidelines while the sporting and financial fundamentals are under their hands,” he said.

Real Madrid boss Florentino Perez (left) and Barcelona president Joan Laporta (right) have been heavily involved in the Super League plans

“Our talks also made it clear that it is often impossible for clubs to publicly rise up against a system that prevents resistance with the threat of sanctions.”

Under the 10-point plan that A22 has laid out, they propose “an open, multi-divisional competition consisting of 60 to 80 teams” where “entry into each season should be based on sporting merit, with no permanent members.”

It adds that “participating clubs should remain committed to their domestic competitions and tournaments”.

There will be “a larger distribution of financial resources for the entire pyramid and strictly applied rules for financial sustainability”.

The blueprint also indicated that a women’s competition would be created.

LaLiga President Javier Tebas has been vocal in his opposition to any breakaway league

Tebas described the Super League as the “big-toothed wolf who dresses up as granny”

Tebas also published a cartoon illustrating his point of view when the new plans were released on Thursday

LaLiga wasted no time in reacting to the new proposals, portraying the Super League as a bad wolf trying to devour football.

“The Super League is a wolf dressed as a granny hoping to outsmart European football – but its teeth are very big,” they said.

Spanish league president Javier Tebas tweeted: “Four divisions? The best for her, of course. Government by the clubs? Only the big clubs, of course.”

The tweet was accompanied by a cartoon depicting the Super League as a wolf and European football as Little Red Riding Hood.

The Super League was dealt a serious blow in its long-running legal battle before the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg in December.

Advocate General Athanasios Rantos advised the court to favor UEFA’s position, and while ECJ judges are not bound by it, they generally follow such recommendations.

Rantos found that European Union competition law was compatible with UEFA and FIFA’s restrictions on football.