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(FILES) In this file photo taken on April 21, 2020, the Etihad Stadium complex, home to English Premier League football team Manchester City, is pictured in Manchester, in the north of England, so as life in Britain continues during the nationwide lockdown to fight the novel coronavirus pandemic. – Manchester City have become the first club to announce that they will withdraw from European Super League (ESL) proposals on April 21, 2021 after a furious backlash against the controversial plan. (Photo by Paul ELLIS / AFP)
Nine of the 12 founding members of the short-lived European Super League joined the Association of European Clubs (ECA) on Monday, but Barcelona, ​​Real Madrid and Juventus remain out of the influential squad as they continue to support the project. ‘escape.
ECA said Atletico Madrid, AC Milan and Inter Milan, as well as the six English clubs involved in the breakaway – Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur – had been reinstated after recognizing that a Super League “was not in the interest of the football community at large”.
All nine clubs initially signed on to the project in April, but all backed down within 48 hours in the face of overwhelming opposition from fans, players and organizations.
The ECA called it “an unfortunate and turbulent episode for European football” and also recognized the “willingness of the clubs to actively engage with the ECA in its collective mission of developing European club football – in the open and transparent interest of all, not just some. “
The nine clubs agreed to sanctions from UEFA, including a 5% cut in their EU income for one season, after stepping back and apologizing for their “mistake” in joining the project, widely condemned as a crass land grab.
However, Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juve did not back down – earlier this summer Barcelona president Joan Laporta claimed the Super League was “still alive”.
He insisted that the Super League would mean “financial sustainability for clubs and make the competition more attractive”.
The three remaining clubs have lodged a complaint with European authorities, leaving the European Court of Justice (CJEU) to decide whether UEFA was abusing its dominant position by opposing the Super League project, a near-closed tournament.
Juventus president Andrea Agnelli resigned as ECA president as well as his position on the UEFA executive committee when the breakaway launched in April.
His post at the head of the ECA was taken by the president of Paris Saint-Germain Nasser al-Khelaifi.
The ECA, which has nearly 250 members from across the continent, describes itself as “the only independent body directly representing football clubs at European level”.
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