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By:
Associated Press
- 21 October 2022 23:08
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The project of a Super League made up of European football teams "is dead", UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin insisted on Friday in a meeting with journalists in Argentina. The head of the European Football Confederation categorically rejected the comments made the day before by Bernd Reichart, the new general director of the company behind the European Super League project, "A22 Sports Management". Reichart said the divestment initiative is still very much active, albeit in a different format.
"We are here to talk about football and this European Super League is not football", said Ceferin.
A22 Sports Management worked with 12 elite clubs in Spain, England and Italy in a bid to launch the European Super League in April last year as a rival league to the Champions League, UEFA's most prestigious competition at the level clubs. However, the original European Super League project was scrapped within 48 hours. Now the company says clubs such as Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus are discussing a merit-based tournament.
Days ago, the project that was almost forgotten was suddenly revived. The Super League project that aims to revolutionize European football now has a new senior executive to lead a plan to revive the failed initiative last year. The former head of German television, Bernd Reichart, has taken on the task of bringing the idea of the European Super League back to the stage.
"This project of the Super League in Europe is already dead and we do not need to deal with this issue", added Ceferin.
A revamped European Super League schedule is likely to include more clubs from more countries in one competition. It is expected to start, regardless of the final decision of the court, next year. Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus are awaiting a ruling from the European Court of Justice in their challenge to the monopoly they say Champions League organizer UEFA has over the international competition. The court set a December 15 target to deliver a non-binding opinion on the European Super League case, which was heard by 15 judges over two days in July.
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"I can say that the project is very active and can be finalized in 2025 when we plan to start with the competitions", warned Reichart.
Also on Friday, South American soccer's governing body CONMEBOL announced it will implement financial fairplay rules in all its tournaments starting next year. President Alejandro Dominguez said during meetings in Buenos Aires that the move was part of a strategy to make football more competitive in the region, where the third consecutive Copa Libertadores final between Brazilian clubs will be played next Saturday.
"It's been four years since Brazil started changing their tournaments. It's not just about having more money, but they are working well. We need the rest of the countries to follow this change," he said.
