La Liga president Javier Tebas along with UEFA chief Ceferin have lashed out at El Clasico rivals Barcelona and Real Madrid, and Italian giants Juventus, over a potential re-announcement of European Super League plans that took the footballing fraternity by storm a year ago in April 2021. The new league, which is touted accommodate only European royalty, was shrugged away by fans and clubs alike last year. It was bound to include 12 founding teams, all of whom pulled back except the aforementioned three.
Juventus, Real Madrid and Barcelona are expected to announce their new amended proposals for a European Super League ⏲️ pic.twitter.com/GfPr4ICtO9
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) March 3, 2022
In the heated environs of the Financial Times Business of Football Summit, the presidents of La Liga and UEFA joined hands to blast the plans of the European royalty for a distinguished league. Tebas went as far as claiming that the trio (Real, Barca and Juve) ‘lie more than Vladimir Putin’. The trio still back the idea of a special continental competition despite the grand fall of the original proposal.
Juventus chief Andrea Agnelli was present among the audience, as he was the recipient of a blunt response from the presidents of the two organizations when they were asked about the breakaway competition.
Speaking of which, Tebas said: ‘He [Agnelli] will have to explain it, if he doesn’t explain it, he will be lying. A week ago, I think it was in his house there was a meeting of the three teams. Now they are saying they don’t want fixed slots, Real Madrid are saying they don’t want the first slot. It is false. It is very difficult for the English teams to form part of this competition so they are creating a European league with two categories and the national leagues are the second categories. (via Daily Mail)
Extraordinary scenes and tension at #FTFootball as La Liga head Javier Tebas calls out Juventus chairman Andrea Agnelli (seated w back to me at front table in pic) and launches against the 3 clubs still pushing the Super League
“They lie more than Putin!”
??? pic.twitter.com/nH8ILBbiFC
— Arash Massoudi (@ArashMassoudi) March 3, 2022
He went on to bash the European giants by saying that they have become enemies of UEFA and Premier League, citing the difference in their business models.
“There will be two or three people relegated but there will always be the typical teams – Juventus, Barcelona, Real Madrid. It will be difficult for them to go down. They have made enemies of UEFA and the Premier League, whose growth goes against their model. We know this, we have got this information. They can say what they want but this is what they are working on. Every time I read about it, I get cross, I think they lie more than Putin to be honest. They are insisting that introducing this will not affect national leagues. We must be idiots, we must be dumb. But we all say it hurts the national leagues,” he continued directly aiming jabs at Agnelli, who was present right in front of him.
"First they try to launch during a pandemic, now we hear that they are trying to launch in the middle of a war. Do I have to speak more about these people? They obviously live in a parallel world."
Aleksander Ceferin at the #FTFootball Summit.https://t.co/EcsfixOIjB
— Dave Powell (@_DavePowell) March 3, 2022
Before Tebas’ remarks, it was UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin who spoke. The Slovenian chief executive didn’t hold himself back either.
Ceferin opened: “I have to say that those speaking about the Super League are not speaking about football. I am sick and tired of this non-football project. First, they launched their nonsense of the idea in the middle of a pandemic. Now, we read articles that they are planning to launch another idea now in the middle of a war. Do I have to speak more about these people? They obviously live in a parallel world. For anyone to compare the reform of the Champions League with the Super League is not serious.” (via Talksport)
All six Premier League teams involved – Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester City and Manchester United withdrew soon after the plans were first announced. Italian heavyweights Milan and Inter joined Atletico Madrid to back off too, but the three other teams from the two countries still hold onto the idea of starting the breakaway tournament.