European Super League still in talks with clubs who renounced it, says chief
European Super League chiefs insist they remain in talks with clubs who have publicly distanced themselves from the breakaway and claim that as many as 20 teams are ready to back the project.
A possible split from Uefa was given fresh momentum last month when the European Court of Justice decreed that the European governing body’s attempts to block it by sanctioning clubs were illegal.
Several top clubs who initially signed up in 2021, including Manchester City, Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea, reacted by stating that he they had no plans to reverse their current opposition.
But Bernd Reichart, chief executive of Super League organisers A22 Sports Management, said last night that dialogue was continuing in private with some teams who had professed different positions in public.
“Yes, we have conversations with clubs who made a statement,” he told Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano in an interview on streaming platform Kick.
“We want the best competition in the world based on top clubs in Europe in three divisions giving them more exposure and a safer commercial pillar.
“Things are changing and we have open channels with clubs who failed to make a statement. They want and need to know where we are heading.
“It is right that there are different degrees of convinced clubs but we don’t want to draw a line in the sand and divide the football community.
“There are clubs who are really pushing and others who need more for the process. We have to build them a bridge in order for them to understand.
“There are still a lot of misconceptions. It’s a midweek competition, an alternative to the Champions League, which is not up to its potential.
“Should the clubs govern the competition on their own? Yes. It can be done and we will.”
Real Madrid and Barcelona, two of the driving forces behind the Super League’s attempted launch in 2021, remain the only clubs to have publicly backed the project since the ECJ ruling.
“We are very happy to have this public support, the two clubs with probably the biggest following in the world,” Reichart added. “It gives it the credibility it needs. Perhaps it’s telling that they are member owned clubs.”
It came hours after Reichart’s colleague, A22 co-founder Anas Laghrari, was reported to have said that Super League chiefs had enough backing to start the competition.
“We have spoken with around 50 different clubs,” he was quoted as saying in Ouest-France. “About 20 of them are very, very motivated by the project.”
Super League organisers have made a renewed push since their legal victory, presenting a revised blueprint for a three-tier competition run by clubs and to be broadcast for free.
But they face a major battle to win over English clubs in particular, who have less to gain than their European rivals due to the financial superiority of the Premier League.