A new-look
European Super League would be a competition with no permanent members and based
on sporting performance, says A22 chief executive Bernd Reichart.
A22 Sports
Management is a company promoting a revamped European league.
The company
backed a 12-club ESL proposal in 2021 that failed to materialise after
protests against it.
"The
foundations of European football are in danger of collapsing," Reichart
told German newspaper Die Welt.
"It's time
for a change. It is the clubs that bear the entrepreneurial risk in football.
"But when
important decisions are at stake, they are too often forced to sit idly by on
the sidelines as the sporting and financial foundations crumble around
them."
The original
plans for the ESL in 2021 contained 20 teams - 12 founding members and three
unnamed clubs they expected to join later, plus five clubs who would have
qualified annually based on their domestic achievements.
Arsenal,
Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham backed out
of the project within 48 hours following widespread condemnation.
Real Madrid,
Barcelona and Juventus, however, are still pushing for an ESL.
Reichart says
the new ESL would contain 60 to 80 teams, each guaranteed a minimum of 14
matches per season and continue to play in their domestic leagues.
In
December, Uefa and Fifa received significant backing in their bid to
block the creation of a European Super League.
In a report
released by the European Court of Justice, its advocate general said the rules
of football's European and world governing bodies were "compatible with EU
competition law".
It had been
claimed Uefa and Fifa were breaking competition law by threatening to sanction
clubs and players who joined a breakaway league.
A final ruling
will be made by a 15-member Grand Chamber in spring.
Super League is
the wolf - Tebas
Despite the
ruling, A22 has been engaged in "comprehensive dialogue with stakeholders
across Europe on the future of club football".
It has also
developed 10 principles, including broad-based and meritocratic competitions
and development and finance for women's football, which would be the foundation
for the new ESL.
"Our talks
have also made it clear that clubs often find it impossible to speak out
publicly against a system that uses the threat of sanctions to thwart
opposition," Reichart added.
"Our
dialogue was open, honest, constructive and resulted in clear ideas about what
changes are needed and how they could be implemented.
"There is a
lot to do and we will continue our dialogue."
La Liga
president Javier Tebas has been a critic of the ESL and denounced the new
proposals.
"The Super
League is the wolf, who today disguises himself as a granny to try to fool
European football," he wrote on social media.
"But his
nose and his teeth are very big, four divisions in Europe? Of course the first
for them, as in the 2019 reform. Governed by the clubs? Of course only the big
ones."
Last year, Uefa
approved changes to the Champions League meaning the number of teams in
the group stage will rise from 32 to 36 in the 2024-25 competition.
The new format
will see the initial phase contain one league table including all teams.
Each will play
eight group-stage games against different opponents, with four home ties and
four away.
The top eight
will go through to the knockout stage, while those from ninth to 24th will
compete in a two-legged play-off to progress.
Uefa said
"similar format changes will also be applied to the Europa League (eight
matches in the league stage) and Europa Conference League (six matches in the
league stage) and both will also include 36 teams in the league phase".
By Mandeep
Sanghera || BBC Sport
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