Liverpool and Manchester United are reportedly in favour of a new Fifa-run “European Premier League” featuring some of the biggest clubs on the continent, with Barcelona recently adding their support as well.
According to Sky News, Wall Street bank JP Morgan have assembled a $6bn (£4.6bn) funding package for the creation of the super league-style competetion which if successful, would have dramatic consequences for the Uefa Champions League, major domestic leagues including the Premier League and football as a whole.
In October it was revealed that Liverpool and Manchester United were spearheading “Project Big Picture” which featured plans to revolutionise the finances and structure of English football from the top down.
Although that plan was voted down by at least 14 Premier League clubs during an emergency meeting, it is apparent that Liverpool, United and potentially other “big six” clubs are eager for major changes to be made to the way European football is run.
Here is all we know so far about a potential European Premier League:
Which teams could join?
So far more than a dozen teams hailing from the “big five” European leagues – the English Premier League, Spanish La Liga, Italian Serie A, German Bundesliga and French Ligue 1 – are said to have held talks about being founding members in a 16 or 18 team competition.
As many as five Premier League clubs could be involved from the outset and assuming that Liverpool and Manchester United would take up two places, three of the four remaining “big six” clubs – Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City and Spurs – may also be included.
According to reports in Spain, Real Madrid are one of the key drivers behind a European Premier League, while their domestic rivals Barcelona and Atletico Madrid have also been sounded out over their interest.
Barca ‘agree to join European Super League’
During a bombshell press conference on 27 October, Josep Maria Bartomeu said he would be stepping down from his role as Barcelona president following a tumultuous year at the club, but not before revealing he accepted an invitation to join a future super league.
“I can announce some extraordinary news,” said Bartomeu. “Yesterday we accepted a proposal to participate in a future European Super League, which would guarantee the future financial sustainability of the club.”
La Liga president Javier Tebas did not waste time in criticising the outgoing Bartomeu, saying the “imaginary” competition would be the “ruin” of Barca.
“Unfortunate @jmbartomeu statement on his last day about @fcbarcelona joining a weak and imaginary competition which would be their ruin,” Tebas wrote on Twitter.
“It confirms his ignorance about the football industry. Sad end for a president with successes and lately many mistakes.”
When could it happen?
A provisional start date has been discussed for as early as 2022 although it is unclear how that would be impacted by the winter World Cup in Qatar which is scheduled to take place between November and December.
How would it work?
The European Premier League would be a round-robin tournament with each team playing against each other twice per season in home and away fixtures.
The top-ranked teams in the league season would then compete in knockout matches. It is so far unclear how many teams that would involve and what the format would be.
That would mean any team involved would play a minimum of 32 league games in a 16-team league or 36 in an 18-team league.
What would happen to the Premier League?
Although the European Premier League would initially, at least, be run in conjunction with domestic competitions, it would be difficult to see how its five Premier League representatives would be able to juggle both competitions.
Assuming the Premier League remains a 20 team competition, the English representatives in the European Super League would play a minimum of 70 games and possibly even more if they remain in the two domestic cup competitions, the FA Cup and League Cup.
Part of the plans floated by United and Liverpool in Project Big Picture were to reduce the Premier League from 20 to 18 clubs and abolish the League Cup and Community Shield entirely, presumably to free up space in the calendar for European commitments.
The competitiveness of the Premier League would unquestionably be impacted if five of its clubs benefited from the riches on offer in the European Premier League. The financial gap would likely be exacerbated further by a reduction in broadcast revenue to smaller clubs due to the Premier League becoming less desirable as a commercial product.
The Premier League’s existing broadcasting cycle, which brought in £5bn domestically and a further £9.2bn from overseas, was agreed from the start of the 2019-20 season until the end of 2021-22. Considering that timing could coincide with the inauguration of the European Premier League, it seems unlikely that Premier League broadcasting deals will remain as lucrative.
Ultimately, it would make the prospect of a club like Leicester City winning the Premier League or even Aston Villa beating Liverpool 7-2, far more remote.
What is Uefa’s position?
Uefa has governed European football since 1954 and the formation of a Fifa-backed European competition would see a major power shift taking place.
According to Sky’s report, insiders have claimed that Uefa have not backed Fifa’s proposals which if true, will cause friction between the organisations. If Europe’s top clubs agree to join the European Premier League, the Champions League would no longer be the flagship competition across the continent.
That would have a hugely detrimental impact on Uefa’s prestige and finances given it is regarded as the equal if not greater than the Fifa World Cup as a spectacle and comfortably their main source of revenue ahead of the Europa League, European Championships and Nations League tournaments.
In November last year, BT Sport announced that they had agreed a new deal with Uefa to show Champions League games on their platforms from 2021 through until 2024. However, future broadcast income will dry up significantly if a rival competition featuring the traditional elite clubs is introduced.
What has been the reaction to the news?
Similarly to Project Big Picture, plans for a European Premier League have received a backlash from supporters and ex-players.
The Football Supporters’ Association Tweeted: “Seriously, if you’re a club owner or football financier who thinks a global health crisis is the perfect opportunity to rip up and reshape football to suit billionaires… you have no idea how much fans detest your concept. It will not go how you think.”
Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher summed his feelings up succinctly on Twitter, quote tweeting the story from Sky Sports News by saying “Oh f___ off”.
Carragher’s Sky Sports co-pundit Gary Neville, meanwhile, echoed his comments from last week calling for an independent regulatory body to oversee football.
Ex-Manchester United captain Neville backed a report titled “Saving the Beautiful Game” urging a radical overhaul of the governance of English football in wake of last week’s Project Big Picture proposals.
“I don’t want the Glazer family, John W Henry or Roman Abramovich or Daniel Levy running football in this country,” Neville said.
Wenger: Super league would ‘destroy’ PL
Former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger told the Guardian: “The Premier League has a superiority. The project [Big Picture] wanted to reinforce this superiority.
“The other leagues tried to destroy the advantage the Premier League has. For them, the best thing to attain that is to create a European league.
“So that means to destroy the Premier League, basically. So if they get the agreement from the English big clubs, it will happen.”
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/3dL1slb
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