A year and three months have passed since one of the most glorious collapses in the history of world football: the “Super League”, which was established in the dead of night on April 18, 2021 and claimed to change the map of the industry, fell with great noise in less than a week. The English teams, who joined the initiative led by Real Madrid, Juventus and Barcelona – withdrew one after the other, leaving the initiative as unworkable – and as one that will not happen in the short term.
But the idea, it turns out, is not dead yet. Last night (Saturday) it was reported in “Marca” about a meeting in Las Vegas – which included the presidents of the three teams that were the foundation of the “Super League”: Florentino Perez from Real Madrid, Juan Laporte from Barcelona and Andre Agnelli from Juventus. According to the report, the meeting dealt with attempts to revive the fantasy league, as well as the fight against FIFA and UEFA – who managed to thwart the move the first time.
The argument of the leaders of the Super League is simple: UEFA and FIFA are a sports monopoly, and violate the laws of the European Union. As I recall, during the Super League saga, the two veteran bodies exerted all their weight to prevent the move – among other things, through threats that they would keep the involved teams away from the local leagues (members of UEFA), and even prevent their players from playing in the soccer World Cup (organized by FIFA) A). Together with the pressure of the fans, who expressed strong opposition and protests against the capitalist move, the initiative collapsed.
“Of course the idea is still alive,” Real president Florentino Peres said in an interview a month ago. “There is a hearing that will take place in the court in Luxembourg, and there are issues on the table. We believe that we have the right, within the European community, to organize a competition between us. In our opinion, UEFA is a monopoly.”
Furthermore, there are those in the European media who link Barcelona’s massive acquisition spree – which spent no less than 98 million euros this summer, and brought in five new acquisition players – and the Super League. According to an article in the British “Telegraph”, Barca is building on the astronomical income it will receive, if the ambitious league is indeed established.
As you may remember, during the saga there was talk of the large American bank “JP Morgan” financing its establishment, and is supposed to provide the financial backing for the move. “Vegas style bet”, that’s how the move was called, “Barcelona is betting on the future for the sake of the present”.
Benazir Bhutto once said that “you can kill a person, but not an idea”. She probably won’t like the comparison between her lofty idea and the gang of businessmen behind the “Super League” initiative, but the concept is the same: the league did fail, but the motives behind it remain strong and exist. Everyone, it seems, is waiting for the next round in which the “Super League” will be resurrected.
