A war of words has broken out between UEFA and the management company exploring the possibility of establishing a Super League after a meeting between the two in Nyon earlier today.
European football's governing body has taken umbrage at an account of the meeting from A22 Sports Management that referred to "other executives" with UEFA then describing their proposals as "greedy."
Sources told Mirror Football that A22 thought they were meeting with UEFA president Aleksandr Ceferin only to be greeted by almost two dozen officials including La Liga chief Javier Tebas and PSG's Nasser Al-Khalifi.
But English clubs were not represented because of a Premier League meeting taking place at the same time in London.
The meeting lasted more than two hours with, according to UEFA, A22 refusing to define what their plans are.
A22 say that they argued European club competitions, led by the Champions League, are failing to reach their full potential and pointed to a “lack of adequate financial controls, affordable prices for fans, and the investment needs to fund the women’s game, infrastructure and very importantly, solidarity.”
The group also said that it reiterated it is “fully committed to open competitions based on sporting merit and the fundamental role played by national leagues – which would be complementary to a new format.”
But in response UEFA said in a statement that they are "currently checking the recording to see if they are talking about the same meeting."
The statement added: "The 'other executives' they refer to were not faceless bureaucrats but senior stakeholders from across European football, players, clubs, leagues and fans; people who live and breathe the game every day. To fail to recognise that is disrespectful.
"If there is a 'takeaway' from today, it should be that the whole of European football opposes their greedy plan, as was clearly communicated in our media release. European football has constantly demonstrated its openness to change but it must be for the benefit of the whole game not just a few clubs.
"A22 wanted dialogue so we gave them 2.5 hours of time from all of the game’s stakeholders and each one rejected their approach. As the Football Supporters’ Association said, the UK has had as many Prime Ministers in the last two months as they have supporters of their plans.
"They claim not to represent the three remaining clubs. They refuse to define what their alleged new approach is. They claim to want dialogue. But when presented with the chance, they have nothing to say.
"The time for real dialogue is tomorrow, when the Convention on the Future of European Football reconvenes here in Nyon. National associations, clubs, leagues, coaches, players, fans, agents and administrators will gather to discuss the real issues facing the game, not to spend time indulging bankers and marketing executives on ideas that put the future of the world’s favourite game in jeopardy."
Bernd Reichart, the chief executive of A22, said that the group “will continue its efforts to reform football, informed by the views of a wide group of stakeholders including clubs, fans, players, leagues, policy makers and other parties.
"We are heartened by the fact, that, we have already been contacted by and are in conversations with numerous clubs who wish to take part in this dialogue to develop a sustainable foundation for European club football.”
