Andrea Agnelli, President of Juventus Turin, is a charming man. But he is so vague about reality that he caused amazement as he sat on the stage of a luxury London hotel on Thursday night and addressed a crowd keen on football business. At the “Football Business Summit” of the business newspaper Financial Times, to be exact; that means: in front of investors and representatives from the football industry.
On April 19, 2021, Andrea Agnelli pushed forward in the wake of Real Madrid President Florentino Pérez – and brought the idea of an almost hermetically sealed “Super League” to the public – financed with 3.5 billion euros by the US investment bank JP Morgan. The Super League should take the place of the Champions League of the European football union Uefa.
“The Super League didn’t fail,” says Agnelli – and provokes murmurs from the audience
Within 72 hours, the project collapsed under pressure from governments, clubs, associations, leagues, Uefa and fans. Nine founding members dropped out, including all six English Premier League clubs. Apart from Juventus and Real Madrid, only FC Barcelona remained; FC Bayern, Borussia Dortmund and Paris Saint-Germain had previously declined the invitation. And yet Agnelli uttered a remarkable sentence: “The Super League did not fail.”
Italian and Spanish sports media had reported in the past few days that Agnelli would present a new, sharpened Super League project in London. That didn’t happen. But that doesn’t mean they’re idle. Javier Tebas, president of the Spanish League Federation (LFP), came up with the news, unchallenged by Agnelli, that the “castaways”, as Tebas mocked, had met at Agnelli’s house last week. “Since it will be difficult for English clubs to participate in a Super League, there should now be a continental European Super League,” says Tebas. From Agnelli: not a word. Agnelli forbade questions about Tebas. The reason: Tebas not only had ridicule for the separatists, but also a comment that Agnelli apparently found offensive: “They lie more than Putin,” he said. Hours later, Agnelli was angry that Tebas depicted himself with it.
The Super League operators “apparently live in a parallel world,” says Ceferin
It wasn’t the only portrait drawing of London. Uefa President Aleksander Ceferin, who was connected from Nyon, also painted the Super League rebels. “I’m tired of talking about this non-football project,” said Ceferin. “First they started this absurd idea in the middle of the pandemic. Now we read that they are letting go of the idea again – in the middle of a war. Do I really still have to talk about these people? They apparently live in a parallel world.” Ceferin also pointed out the consequences that apostates face. You are free to set up a new competition. However, should they do so, they would no longer be able to take part in Uefa competitions.
Gary Neville, who became a legend at Manchester United and in April 2021, in his role as an eloquent TV expert, strongly railed against the Super League, said: The presidents of Real, Barça and Juve would think no further than the interests of their three ( highly indebted) clubs. The idea isn’t dead, Neville pointed out. He hopes for a reform of football legislation in Great Britain, based on the report that Tory MP Tracey Crouch presented to the British Parliament (“Fan-led Review of Football Governance”). If the recommendations are implemented – which include giving fans and club members more say – the nail in the Super League’s coffin would be there, Neville believes.
Uefa President Aleksander Ceferin (right) and Juventus boss Andrea Agnelli have very different positions on the future of European club football.
(Photo: Gregorio Borgia/dpa)
What hurts the Super League operators even more: the bankers’ belief in the Super League seems to be waning. Timm William from “Tifosy Capital & Advisory” called the Super League “understandable” from a financial point of view. But he added: “The smart investors who don’t really care that much about the fan perspective will care about the fans.” The unspoken logic behind it. You want their money. Mark Affolter, co-director of US Direct Lending, Ares Management, which has pumped a three-digit million euro sum into Spanish giants Atlético Madrid, said: “We heard our fans.”
The hopes of the renegades now rest on the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in Luxembourg. The commercial court in Madrid asked for a so-called “preliminary ruling” to clarify in principle whether Uefa’s opposition to the establishment of the Super League is consistent with European Union (EU) antitrust law. Agnelli said Uefa should not be the regulator, monopoly guardian and commercial operator of football competitions at the same time.
Not everyone sees it that way. The online magazine political reported in October 2021 that at least 15 of 27 EU governments had issued “opinions” against the project – led by Spain, the home country of Super League mastermind Florentino Pérez. Every EU government is entitled to such “opinions”. But Germany renounced.
“The federal government has refrained from commenting on the dispute before the ECJ,” said the Ministry of the Interior, which is responsible for sports, at the request of the Süddeutsche Zeitung. That was before the change of government in December. The federal government is “critical of a Super League from a sporting point of view,” it said. But: “It is generally the responsibility of the key players in sport to agree on competition formats, taking into account the applicable legal situation, and to regulate them appropriately, taking into account the interests of all those involved.” The new federal government now declared: “The basic attitude (…) has not changed.” A date for the oral hearing before the ECJ has not yet been set. It is unclear whether the decision, which will then be binding for European courts, will be made this year, according to the ECJ on Friday.