The company promoting the Super League, A22, proposed this Thursday a “new open European competition” in which “64 clubs will be divided into three football leagues” for men and 32 clubs will be divided into two football leagues” for women.
The A22 proposal comes shortly after the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) found FIFA and UEFA’s decision to ban footballers and clubs from participating in private competitions such as the Super League, proposed on April 18, to be contrary to European norms. law 2021.
The model that A22 represents was created in October 2022, and after the failure of the first project – in April 2021, does not yet say anything about the calendar or support from European clubs, but promises free broadcasting of competition matches.
According to the company, the responsibility will lie with the streaming platform.
“The new bid is the result of an extensive dialogue over the past 18 months, involving many people from the world of football,” said Bernd Reichart, chief executive of A22.
The company believes today’s decision by the CJEU will “end UEFA’s monopoly” by nullifying its 2021 rules, then banning the Super League and threatening sanctions on the promotion of clubs and participating players, although the body reformulated the text in June 2022.
In the proposal presented by Reichart today, A22 detailed a project that would differ significantly from the original as it would have no permanent members and would operate on a system of promotion and relegation involving “solidarity payments” in European football of a minimum amount. 400 million euros.
The idea is to create a European sports model with open competition based on sporting merit and financial redistribution, moving away from the original project aimed at the elite of super-rich clubs.
“In the first year of the competition, clubs will be selected using transparent performance-based criteria,” A22 added, explaining that games will be played midweek and compete with UEFA club competitions.
For a promotion company, revenue comes from “advertising, premium subscriptions, distribution partnerships, interactive services and sponsorships,” but without specifying which partners.
The EU’s top administrative body has found that UEFA and FIFA abused their “dominant position” in their actions against the creation of the controversial Super League football.
Real Madrid and Barcelona are rivals among the 15 founders of the original project (although only 12 have been revealed), which envisaged a 20-club competition that was contested by various quarters, from sporting bodies to national governments, going through the fans themselves.
In October 2022, A22 was created to promote the project, which in February 2023 re-adapted the original plan to new principles and a model of 60–80 clubs that was open, without permanent members and based on sporting merit.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
I’m Dave Martin, and I’m an experienced journalist working in the news industry. As a part of my work, I write for 24 News Reporters, covering mostly sports-related topics. With more than 5 years of experience as a journalist, I have written numerous articles on various topics to provide accurate information to readers.