Bernd Reichart, boss of A22, the company promoting the competition, does not want to abandon the project despite threats of sanction from UEFA.
«The Super League is not dead, far from it“, assured Friday Bernd Reichart, the boss of A22, the company promoting the competition, the day after a decision by the Advocate General of the European Court of Justice favorable to UEFA, which threatens to sanction future attendees.
«The Super League is not dead, far from it, it is very much alive“, declared the leader from Madrid, in the presence of the presidents of Real Madrid, Florentino Pérez, and Barcelona, Joan Laporta.
The ex-president of Juventus Turin, the 3rd club which continues to carry the project out of the 12 which are at the origin, was absent.
Launched with fanfare in April 2021, this private and semi-closed competition project competing with the Champions League collapsed in just 48 hours in the face of the fury of many supporters and the threat of political measures, before resurfacing in mid-October at the time the launch of the A22 company.
This structure says it wishes to open “a dialogueon the future of European club football by meeting each of its players.
European justice to the aid of Uefa
The Advocate General of the European Court of Justice, however, estimated on Thursday that Super League clubs could develop their own competition “outside the Uefa and Fifa ecosystem“but could not simultaneously”continue to participate in competitions organized by Fifa and Uefa without the prior authorization of the said federations».
«This is a non-binding opinionMr. Reichart continued. “We will continue to work until judgment. We continue to believe that Uefa cannot be both judge and party, both the organizer who regulates the competition and who regulates access to the market.».
The Court of Justice hasrecognized that anyone could organize competitions“Said Luis Alonso, of the firm Clifford Chance which represents A22. “Uefa and Fifa do not have the exclusive right to organize competitions».
«The Bosman case enshrined the free movement of workers in professional sport and I am convinced that the Super League will enshrine free competition in professional sport“, he added.
«In recent weeks, we have had conversations with more than 30 clubs in more than 10 countries and they share our diagnosis that reforms are needed in the attractiveness of competitions, such as financial fair play and governance. Clubs want to own their own destiny“, assured Mr. Reichart again.