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The Sporting World Reacts To Planned Super League

April 20, 2021

Welcome to our iSportConnect live page looking at the latest updates, comments and emerging details surround the proposed ‘Super League’, revealed on Sunday night…

2:00 pm – Premier League Announcement

“The Premier League, alongside The FA, met with clubs today to discuss the immediate implications of the Super League proposal.

“The 14 clubs at the meeting unanimously and vigorously rejected the plans for the competition. The Premier League is considering all actions available to prevent it from progressing, as well as holding those Shareholders involved to account under its rules.

“The League will continue to work with key stakeholders including fan groups, Government, UEFA, The FA, EFL, PFA and LMA to protect the best interests of the game and call on those clubs involved in the proposed competition to cease their involvement immediately.”

12:00pm – Manchester United and Juventus’ stock market value leapt by a combined $550 million on news of the European Super League.

But ESL Founding Clubs are likely to lose a combined brand value of €2.5bn, and that number could potentially be as high as €4.3bn, say Brand Finance.

Richard Haigh, Managing Director of Brand Finance, commented: “For the ESL ‘Founding Clubs’ the prize seems obvious – more money – but this ignores the huge risk that fans won’t follow and neither will the money. There is outrage in the home markets from both fans and leagues alike, but it is not clear yet what the repercussions will be. Will fans vote with their feet and leave the clubs many have supported their entire lives? Will the leagues impose fines, or point deductions leading to relegation and further financial loss?”

11:15 – Footballer Ander Herrera was yesterday the first major player to speak out on social media.

“I fell in love with popular football, with the football of the fans, with the dream of seeing the team of my heart compete against the greatest. If this European super league advances, those dreams are over.”

10:45 – The DFL, Deutsche Fußball Liga, and the German Football Association (DFB) issue statement.

“We are appalled by the foundation of a Super League. We stand in solidarity with UEFA and its President Aleksander Ceferin. At the same time, we support all signalled countermeasures by FIFA, UEFA and the affected national leagues and associations. We are aware that this may also affect the selection of German national team players that are contracted at such Super League clubs.

9:30 – Comments by Florentino Perez to Spanish TV overnight

Last night Florentino Perez, Real Madrid President and Chairman of the Super League, explained to Spanish TV show El Chiringuito de Jugones: “Everything I do, I do it for the good of football. 40% of young people aren’t interested in football, because there are too many games of low quality. And we had to adapt.

“We have created the Super League to save football. If you win the Champions League, you will receive €120-130M from UEFA. But, with the Super League we will earn much more.

“Even in the Premier League, if the top clubs are economically stronger, the others will also become stronger. It is a consequence. We want to have a dialogue with UEFA. As we proposed in the Super League, we want to save football.

“When you have no other revenue, apart from broadcasting rights, you have to find a solution to create more attractive games that allow fans from around the world to see the big clubs playing against each other. The Super League will generate more money. It’s more attractive.”

FROM YESTERDAY: “It Has The Potential To Aggressively Compete With The Three Big American Leagues”

iSportConnect spoke to Professor Simon Chadwick of EMLYON Business School and Dr. Paul Widdop, Senior Lecturer of Sport Development at Manchester Metropolitan University to get their views on why this development has occurred and what it could mean for football.

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