Juventus reveal court victory in another European Super League statement
The European Super League is immortal… apparently. The concept remains a very real possibility in the eyes of the most fanatical egotists who attempted to break away from the norm and form their own elite division.
Alongside the financially-strapped Real Madrid and Barcelona, Juventus, who have financial issues of their own thanks to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, remain part of the ESL. While Florentino Perez is widely regarded as the ringleader of the coup, Juve president Andrea Agnelli had a major influence in the competition’s attempted formation.
On Friday, the three clubs released a statement regarding their court victory over UEFA, who’d threatened to expel the trio from their domestic divisions and European competitions for their ongoing plans to form a breakaway division.
It’s a big win for the supergiants.
Statement
The statement on Juventus’ official website read: “FC Barcelona, Juventus, and Real Madrid CF welcome today’s Court’s decision enforcing, with immediate effect, UEFA’s obligation to unwind the actions taken against all European Super League founding clubs, including terminating the disciplinary proceedings against the undersigning three clubs and removing the penalties and restrictions imposed on the remaining nine founding clubs for them to avoid UEFA’s disciplinary action.”
The trio then described UEFA as taking up a “monopolistic position” in football, with the need to address serious issues in the sport now an urgent one. They claim that UEFA’s current governance “is damaging football and its competitive balance”, with the governing body’s inadequate “financial controls” currently being “improperly enforced”.
The statement then concluded: “We are pleased that going forward we will no longer be subject to ongoing UEFA’s threats. Our aim is to keep developing the Super League project in a constructive and cooperative manner, always counting on all football stakeholders: fans, players, coaches, clubs, leagues, and national and international associations. We are aware that there are elements of our proposal that should be reviewed and, of course, can be improved through dialogue and consensus. We remain confident in the success of a project that will be always compliant with European Union laws.”
When’s it going to end?
Admittedly, there’s plenty of truth in the statement released by the rebel triumvirate. It’s UEFA, who emerged as this tyrannical superhero during the initial Super League ‘crisis’, and their poor organisation of European football in regards to revenue distribution that facilitated the emergence of the ESL.
While capitalist greed and the total disregard of the lifeblood of the sport, the fans, were the distasteful undercurrents that totally undermined the initial breakaway back in April, I think it’s fair to suggest that the idea of a Super League certainly isn’t an abhorrent one, especially in an ever-evolving sport. With some refinement and tweaking, it could be a viable solution to the issues that UEFA have brought about and failed to solve.
Despite nine of the 12 initial Super League clubs breaking away from the breakaway, the three that remain will continue to work at their revolutionary plan. In short, this is far from over. Florentino & Co will be back.