Players and clubs threatened with ban if they join European Super League | Soccer

Fifa and the six continental football confederations have issued a joint categorical rejection of any move towards the big clubs forming a breakaway European Super League, saying such an undertaking would not be ratified by any governing body.

The statement, made by FIFA and UEFA presidents Gianni Infantino and Aleksander Ceferin, and those of the other five international confederations, says that because none of them would endorse such a league, all players and clubs that would actually participate in it are football outlaws.

“In light of recent media speculation on the creation of a European” Super League “closed by certain European clubs, Fifa and the six confederations … would like to reiterate and strongly emphasize that such a competition would not be recognized by either the Fifa nor by the respective confederation ”, indicates the joint statement.

“Any club or player involved in such a competition would therefore not be allowed to participate in a competition organized by Fifa or their respective confederation.”

Few of the big European clubs have shown interest in a breakaway super league, as they are engaged in talks with UEFA on extending the Champions League format in 2024, when the agreed football schedule ends. However, it was reported that the JP Morgan bank had been asked to examine the financial possibilities of a “European Premier League”, a project which would have been initiated by Real Madrid. Then, at the end of October, the outgoing president of Barcelona, ​​Josep Maria Bartomeu, dropped the bomb in his final speech according to which, according to him, the club had “accepted a proposal to participate in a future European Super League”.

Manchester United and Liverpool would have been among the potential participants in the breakaway, but they distanced themselves from it. United vice-president Ed Woodward told a fan forum in November that he was “focused on… strengthening UEFA’s existing club competitions”.

Some reports suggest that Fifa, which are revamping their Club World Cup format, were backing a move to support a European Super League, although Fifa sources said they were baffled by this and knew nothing about it. the initiative.

Now they have expressed their opposition explicitly, in an effort to ensure that all clubs remain within the official structures of football’s governing bodies.