When you ask football fans which are the top football competitions, they’ll mention the FIFA World Cup at international level and the UEFA Champions league at club level. Both competition feature a fair qualification model such that only the best teams get to compete which makes them very intense.
In April 2021, a new European football competition was launched – The Super League. This is an entirely different competition from the UEFA Champions League and it’s founded by some elite clubs in Europe. The announcement of this new league has led to comments from fans and footballers alike as a lot of persons are against the new establishment. What do you think about it? Well, I’ll be discussing what you should know about it and by the end of this article, you should have an opinion.
What is the Super League?
The Super League is a new competition in Europe that involves the best teams and the best players with games to be played every week. It consists of 20 competiting teams out of which 12 are the founders and thus constant contestants. The remaining 5 slots will have to be contested by other teams who are willing to join the competition.
This league is divided into two groups with each group having 10 teams. Each of the teams in this group will play home and against fixtures among themselves week-in and week-out. After the group state, the top 8 teams are going to qualify for the knock out tournament. These teams will be matched and again they’ll play home and away games until the final and one team emerges as the winner.
Who are the founding teams?
As stated, 12 of the biggest teams in Europe came together to form the new super league. Who are they? Check them out;
- Real Madrid CF – La Liga, Spain
- FC Barcelona – La Liga, Spain
- Atletico Madrid – La Liga, Spain
- Arsenal FC – Premier League, England
- Chelsea FC – Premier League, England
- Liverpool FC – Premier League, England
- Manchester United – Premier League, England
- Manchester City – Premier League, England
- Tottenham Hotspur – Premier League, England
- Inter Milan – Serie A, Italy
- Juventus FC – Serie A, Italy
- AC Milan – Serie A, Italy
All these clubs came together to form this new league as they believe it’ll make European football more interesting since it has the best of the best teams. The super league is said to have 15 founders therefore, before the start of the season, 3 more clubs will join the train. At the moment, it’s possible that they are still having discussions.
Who owns the league?
Major football leagues in Europe and even other continents are owned by a body or organization. UEFA owns the Champions League and Europa League, Barclays own the premier league, FIFA owns the World Cup, the La Liga association owns the Spanish league and it goes on. However, the new Super League is unlike any of these.
The league isn’t owned by any organization but it’s instead owned by all 12 founding clubs. It has just been founded so it’s possible that a governing body could be crafted before the start of the season or in subsequent seasons. Nevertheless, the first chairman of the league is Florentino Perez, who is also the current president of Real Madrid.
Perez is a very influential individual in European football so it’s no suprise that he has a strong hand in the formation of this new league. He’s assisted by Joel Glazer, co-chairman of Manchester United, and Andrea Agnelli, chairman of Juventus, as Vice Chairmen.
When is the league starting?
The new Super League is on-course to begin in August 2021 and will run every week until the end of the competition. Subsequently, new seasons would begin by August every year.
How will it affect UEFA Competitions?
The existence of a new European club league posses a serious threat to UEFA Competitions – Champions League and Europa League. These two leagues are the only way clubs from different domestic leagues in Europe can play against each other competitively. Clubs have to play a full season abd ensure that they make the top four to play in the UCL, while the 5 and 6 positions go to the UEL.
The new Super League allows top clubs to play against each other week in week out. The thrill of having the top teams play against each other in the knockout stages of the UCL & UEL is one of the main driving factors of the competitions. With the Super League commencing this will be no more as fans won’t have to wait for months or even season after season to see big teams matched against each other. They’ll see it every week.
Financially, the new Super League also posses a threat to UEFA. Since fans will no longer be thrilled to watch big games, they’ll be less turnouts in stadiums which will lead to less popularity and less investors. On the other hand, the Super League founding teams have complete control of whatever revenue is generated from their games.
Bottom Line
To many football fans, the announcement of this new league came as a shock. There has been no pre-information about the formation of a new league which means everything was done privately. Will the league become one of the best competitions in Europe? Well, only time can tell.
A lot of football fans aren’t welcoming the idea as it involves a setting set of teams. Many says it’s not a fair tournament and they believe it should be dissolved. Some of the leagues whose teams where involved – especially the EPL abd UEFA – have rebuked the new league. UEFA has threatened to ban the competing teams from playing in domestic, European, or World football.
That is a very serious threat. If the Super League keeps it stance and continues with the competition, football might never be the same again.