La Liga president Javier Tebas has warned clubs, fans and lawmakers that supporters of the European Super League (ESL) are still planning “an attack” on the game that will leave all power with the richest clubs and “destroy” the national leagues .
Speaking at a conference in Brussels on Thursday, Tebas said the threat from the three clubs that refused to abandon the ESL plan – Barcelona, Juventus and Real Madrid – remained real and those who love football “should not be misled” by their most recent claims of having learned lessons from the unsuccessful launch of the breakaway competition in April 2021.
The La Liga-sponsored event Tebas spoke at was called “Defending the Ecosystem and Tradition of European Football” and featured academics, broadcasters, members of the European Parliament and representatives of clubs and fan groups.
All were united in their opposition to the creation of a European Super League, claiming it was anti-competitive and would see less money flowing down the pyramid to smaller and grassroots clubs, as well as harming international football.
The company created to run the ESL, Madrid-based A22, is sponsoring its own event in Brussels on Friday – titled “The Future of Sports Governance in Europe: Times Are Changing” – and Tebas believes it has finally reveal what is the new idea for the format of an ESL.
When the league was launched 21 months ago, the idea was a midweek competition, to rival the UEFA Champions League, with 15 permanent members and five other clubs, although only 12 clubs have applied to participate and never it was unclear how the other five would qualify or be invite only.
And because the ESL collapsed so quickly – the shameful withdrawal of the “Big Six” from the Premier League killed the league within 48 hours of its launch – neither its clubs nor its funders had a chance to explain how the format would work, when it would start, who would transmit and many other fundamental questions.
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But unlike the six Premier League clubs and the repentant trio of AC Milan, Atlético de Madrid and Inter, Barcelona, Juventus and Real Madrid never gave up on the project, nor did they accept UEFA’s financial punishment for planning a split.
Instead, they, under the umbrella of A22, took UEFA and FIFA to the European Court of Justice, claiming that the game’s governing bodies had abused their dominant positions, in breach of EU competition law, when they announced action preventive disciplinary action against the clubs.
That argument was heard by the Luxembourg-based court in August and the court’s Advocate General, Greek jurist Athanasios Rantos, gave his written opinion on the matter last month.
This, to the dismay of A22 and the ESL strongholds, was a huge win for UEFA as it upheld their right to block the creation of new competitions that could harm the wider industry.
Rantos’ opinion is not legally binding, but the ECJ is expected to follow when it announces its final decision on March 15. However, the decision is very unlikely to give UEFA unrestricted powers to block potential rivals, as its actions must be justified. for legitimate purposes, such as ensuring that the sport remains fair and open to all.
That’s why the debate has shifted to what the A22 will do next. For example, if he can come up with a format that doesn’t look like an attempt by the continent’s richest clubs to create an NFL-style closed shop, any future efforts to get an ESL off the ground might be luckier.
And it is telling that while Tebas was speaking at his Brussels event, A22 was announcing his event on Twitter.
“How to organize a European system of sports competitions where values such as open competition, promotion and relegation are ensured?” said one such A22 Tweet.
At the #EuropeanFootball Club, principles such as open competition, promotion and relegation must be respected to ensure protection and sustainable development. Let’s talk together about the future of European club football:https://t.co/Aa180lJbgM pic.twitter.com/Vjj5jlRYiE
— A22 Sports (@A22Sports) January 12, 2023
Tebas, however, is convinced he knows what A22 is planning and has been saying so for several months.
The 60-year-old lawyer turned head of football believes the ESL’s new plan is to create two 20-team divisions, with four teams relegated from division one to division one, four teams going the other way, and the bottom four teams in the second division being replaced by teams that won their places through their national leagues.
If he is right and his theory is widely shared, it is similar to an idea that UEFA and the European Club Association (ECA) considered in 2019, when the ECA was led by former Juve president and main ESL supporter Andrea Agnelli. . That plan involved turning the three European club competitions into three divisions, with places retained, promotion and relegation, and some degree of rotation based on domestic success.
This idea, however, provoked an angry response from domestic leagues, who said it would reduce interest in their competitions, which would lead to a drop in revenues, further skewing the competitive balance towards Europe’s biggest clubs. Those leagues, and most of their clubs, feel exactly the same about the European Super League.
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“Let’s be very clear,” Tebas said on Thursday, “A22 and these three clubs are the same thing, and A22 is not a philanthropic organization – it’s about controlling the distribution of money.
“Don’t be fooled by talking about promotion and relegation: 16 clubs will be the same each season and it will be a closed league. Tomorrow they will present the same 2019 models that clubs and leagues said would not work.
“European competition has to be open to everyone, with access via domestic competition. Don’t fall into their trap. They are trying to sell us open competition, but the gap between the ESL clubs and the rest will widen and they will destroy the local leagues.”
A22 has previously rejected Tebas’ claims that its revised ESL format will be based on the 2019 proposals. “The A22 is currently pursuing an open dialogue to develop the best format for European club football – this process is ongoing. However, we have repeatedly made it clear that the competition will be based on open access and sporting merit and will fully respect existing national leagues,” an A22 spokesperson told The Athletic.
“The Advocate General of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) pointed out that UEFA should open access to new competitions. The path to change is real and will ultimately provide clubs with the opportunity to manage their own destiny in Europe.
“A22 is preparing for this moment and will present the results of the dialogue in due course.”
La Liga president Javier Tebas (Photo: Getty Images)
Tebas may be at odds with the biggest clubs in his league over his ambitions to earn more money from European competition, but he is not the advocate of American-style competitive balance that some might wish him to be: indeed, he seems to be quite relaxed about the idea of the big clubs winning everything as long as they don’t win by a lot.
When asked if he worries about a decline in the competitive balance across Europe, Tebas said: “Bayern Munich will always win (the Bundesliga), but the problem is when they win by a mile.
“If I think about my league, the problem is when the winner gets more than 90 points, as we want other clubs to fight to win – we don’t want leagues that are too predictable.”
Tebas, who are never afraid to criticize, also had a grenade up their sleeve for the league that A22 has been suggesting is the true European Super League: the Premier League.
“I’m not worried that the Premier League has increased its revenues – it means the rest of us just have to struggle harder – but I am worried that the Premier League is not financially sustainable,” he said.
“All their clubs make a loss and are funded by their owners. It distorts the market. We can compete with the Premier League, no problem. And I don’t mind that the 15th team in the league buys a Spanish player. But they’re doing it with their owners’ money and it’s not sustainable.
“We would not let our clubs do that. There are only two sustainable leagues in Europe: La Liga and Bundesliga.”
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(Photo: Getty Images)
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