'Damaging' European Super League would strike at heart of football, says Boris Johnson
Boris Johnson attacked England’s biggest football clubs on Sunday night for planning a breakaway European Super League that would “strike at the heart of the domestic game”.
The Prime Minister joined the Premier League and Uefa in condemning the proposal, warning that the clubs involved “must answer to their fans” and the wider footballing community before taking further steps.
His intervention came after Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur joined as “founding clubs” to a breakaway super league.
Five of the “big six” clubs have foreign owners, the exception being Tottenham.
They were joined by Atletico Madrid, Barcelona and Real Madrid, from Spain’s La Liga; as well as AC Milan, Inter Milan and Juventus, from Italy’s Serie A.
British football fans are angered that the league would not allow smaller and improving clubs to qualify.
Critics warn it threatens to extract a significant proportion of money from British football.
Mr Johnson said: “Plans for a European Super League would be very damaging for football and we support football authorities in taking action.”
The clubs involved must answer to their fans and the wider footballing community before taking any further steps. (2/2)
— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) April 18, 2021
Oliver Dowden, the Culture Secretary, warned that the league would amount to a “closed shop at the very top of our national game”, saying it could undermine the sustainability, integrity and fair competition of the sport.
He said he would be “bitterly disappointed” if the move overturned the “pyramid” model in which funds from the Premier League flow down the leagues and into local communities.
French president Emmanuel Macron said he supported Uefa in opposing the prospect of a super league, adding that the project “threatens the principle of solidarity and sporting merit”.
Labour called on the clubs to rethink and on ministers to start a fan-led review of football governance.
Sir Keir Starmer tweeted: “The ‘super league’ proposal cuts across all the things that make football great. It diminishes competition. It pulls up the drawbridge. It is designed for and by a small elite. But worst of all, it ignores the fans.”
The clubs involved in this proposal should rethink immediately.
And if they don’t, they should face the consequences of their actions.
Because football without fans is nothing. 5/5— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) April 18, 2021
On Sunday night the league was formally announced, with Joel Glazer, co-chairman of Manchester United, confirmed a vice-chairman of the new competition.
"By bringing together the world's greatest clubs and players to play each other throughout the season, the Super League will open a new chapter for European football, ensuring world-class competition and facilities, and increased financial support for the wider football pyramid," Glazer said.
Along with the founding 12 teams, it is expected three further clubs will join ahead of the inaugural season.
The founding clubs will receive an amount of €3.5 billion (£3.1 billion) “to support their infrastructure investment plans and to offset the impact of the Covid pandemic”, a statement said.
Florentino Pérez, Real Madrid president, is confirmed as the chairman, having led secret talks around a breakaway for years.
He said: “We will help football at every level and take it to its rightful place in the world.
"Football is the only global sport in the world with more than four billion fans and our responsibility as big clubs is to respond to their desires."
Uefa – the European game’s governing body – served notice it would deploy “all measures available” to halt the “cynical project”.
The Football Association said it would “not provide permission to any competition that would be damaging to English football” and will “take any legal and/or regulatory action necessary” to stop it.
The deal would mark the greatest change in European football since the 1950s, and could be a death-knell for the Champions League.
COMMENT: European Super League is a declaration of war — the 'big six' should be ashamed of themselves
Writing in Monday's Daily Telegraph, Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher said his former club’s inclusion in the plan “sickens me”.
Gary Neville, the former Manchester United star, said the plans would cause smaller clubs untold financial damage.
He told Sky Sports: “It’s an absolute disgrace. We have to wrestle back the power in this country from the clubs at the top of this league. It is pure greed ... The owners … they’re nothing to do with football in this country.”
The Premier League warned that a super league would “destroy” the competitive dream of clubs outside the traditional elite.
It has written to the clubs directly and warned that such a breakaway would amount to a direct breach of league rules.
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