Almost two years after the original European Super League collapsed in the space of 48 hours, a new-look competition is again being proposed by sports development company A22 Sports Management.
These latest proposals, as outlined on Thursday, triple or even quadruple the number of clubs involved from the initial 20 to between 60 and 80 teams. There will also now no longer be permanent members, with participation instead determined by 'annual sporting merit', which is also reiterated by the describing the league as an 'open, multi-divisional competition'.
Manchester City and Manchester United were two of the founding dozen members back in April 2021, alongside Premier League rivals Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur, as well as Spanish sides Atletico Madrid, Barcelona and Real Madrid, plus Italian teams AC Milan, Inter Milan and Juventus. All but three of those clubs (Barcelona, Real Madrid and Juventus) withdrew from the competition within two days of its public announcement.
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Why did the original ESL fail?
Primarily, because the six Premier League clubs involved were pressured to - and subsequently did - withdraw from the competition within the space of 48 hours. Man City were the first to do so, confirming that they had "formally enacted the procedures to withdraw from the group developing plans" for the competition.
Chelsea, who were playing Brighton and Hove Albion at Stamford Bridge on the same day, also confirmed that they had "begun the formal procedures for withdrawal" following protests from supporters outside of the stadium, which saw kick-off delayed by 15 minutes. Arsenal, Liverpool and Spurs soon followed suit.
United announced in a statement that they would not be participating, having "listened carefully to the reaction from our fans, the UK government and other key stakeholders". The Culture Secretary at the time, Oliver Dowden, had said that the government would do "whatever it takes" to prevent Premier League involvement in the ESL.
Key concerns from supporters with the original proposals was the lack of sporting merit, with the majority of the league being made up of permanent members and also the absence of relegation as is the case in the football pyramids across Europe.
As for the new proposals, A22 chief executive Bernd Reichart said that the company's talks with European outfits showed that “it is often impossible for clubs to raise their voices publicly against a system that uses the threat of sanctions to prevent opposition.”
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