Superlega, Agnelli’s double game of poker: from funds to the Champions League
Andrea Agnelli decisive engine for the creation of the Superlega for clubs. There Nba of football has in Juventus number one one of its great founding fathers (and in fact he will be the vice president, right hand man of Florentino Perez). The position of the top Juventus manager has been decisive in these months that have seen the birth of the new European championship intertwine with other decisive events for the future of Italian football. First of all, the negotiation on the entry of funds into Serie A. In fact, on November 19 the clubs gave the ok to the creation of the media company with Cvc, Advent and Fsi which would have paid 1.7 billion euros for 10%: very important money for companies in crisis due to the covid pandemic. The big breakthrough in Serie A seemed official at the end of 2020.
Then everything changed. Agnelli in the following weeks moved away from this position until officially becoming opposed. And, in the letter with which Juventus, together with six other clubs (Atalanta, Fiorentina, Inter, Lazio, Napoli and Hellas Verona), in recent days they have disheartened the president of Lega Paolo Dal Pino it is reported that the issue relating to private “it was clearly sold out at the meeting on February 4”. In fact, in the agreement with the funds there was a preliminary clause which provided that the companies would undertake for ten years not to support new events such as the Super League. The reason is clear: Serie A would have lost appeal by assuming a marginal role in the interest of fans, media and sponsors. And the stalemate that had arisen in the negotiation for the funds also blocked for weeks the green light for the assignment of TV rights to Serie A for the next three years, then assigned to Dazn.
From Serie A to the Champions League. In the last few hours, Andrea Agnelli has also resigned as president of the ECA (the federation of European clubs) and as a member of UEFA. His role became incompatible on the eve of what should have been the new format of the Champions League starting in 2024. The idea of the top continental football organization was clear: to expand the competition to 36 teams. And Andrea Agnelli, as president of the Association of European Clubs, would have had to manage the funds of the Champions League which, between sponsors and collection rights, was expected to lead to a turnover of about 4 billion euros. “I am involved in projects with UEFA and I hope that this will put an end to the speculations that have existed for twenty years. If any clubs have worked alone on any project, I think they will stop here for the moment”, Agnelli’s words at the beginning. March. Uefa number one, Aleksander Ceferin is described as furious with the Juventus president in these hours with whom they had worked side by side in the last two years and a friendship was also born outside of work (even according to the rumors of the NYT, the latter would have been the godfather of Agnelli’s last daughter).