A real revolution, with the support of FIFA, that would mark the end of the Champions League in favor of a billionaire European Super League. This is the hypothesis that the main European clubs are reportedly considering, projected towards a new “European Premier League” that could start as early as the 2022-23 season.
For the moment, no one has confirmed the indiscretion launched by the Sky Sports TV broadcaster, according to which the US bank JP Morgan is already working to raise at least 6 billion euros on the market.
The project of a European Super League featuring 12 teams would already be at an advanced stage with the possibility to expand it to 18 participants adding other clubs besides the richest and most famous from the Old Continent. At this stage, we can foresee that the clubs involved would be:
- Liverpool, Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham from England
- Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund from Germany
- Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid and Sevilla from Spain
- Juventus, Milan, Inter and Napoli from Napoli
- Paris Saint-Germain and Lyon from France
Such tournament would not be an alternative to the individual domestic championships and would be played in mid-week rounds, filling up the slots currently used by the traditional UEFA competitions – the Champions League and the Europa League.
The names of the founding members of the project are top-secret, but everything suggests that the best teams on the continent – from Liverpool to Juventus, from Manchester United to Bayern Munich, up to the two Spanish queens, Real Madrid and Barcelona – are involved. Among the Italians, on top of the traditional powerhouse trio (Juventus, Milan and Inter), Napoli is rumored to have been contacted.
The tournament formula, says Sky Sports, would feature a round robin stage with each team facing the others at least twice and then a play-off round.
The Super League rumor is destined to shake the leaders of UEFA, whose competitions – if the project comes to life – would undergo a very profound downsizing.
Such European Premier League would turn into reality the dreams of some Serie A presidents such as Napoli’s Aurelio De Laurentiis, who has been calling for years for a tournament with greater visibility and remuneration for individuals clubs, in the style of the NBA or NFL in the USA.
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