The European Super League collapsed just after 48 hours from its official announcement. After strong protest from fans worldwide, Manchester City and Chelsea were the first clubs to pull out from the ESL, followed by the other Premier League clubs, Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur.
Later, Spanish club Atletico Madrid and Italian side Inter Milan also withdrew from the European Super League. The clubs released official statements confirming their withdrawals.
However, AC Milan, Barcelona, Juventus and Real Madrid are still in it, even though the chance of the Super League happening is nil.
The would-be chairman of the Super League, Florentino Perez, appeared on Spanish radio to explain what is happening on Wednesday night.
Perez said, speaking on ‘El Larguero’ on Cadena SER, via Marca: “I’m quite sad and disappointed because we’ve been working on this project for around three years and maybe we’ve not been able to explain it well,”
“The Champions League format is old and only interesting from the quarter-finals onwards.”
“This format clearly doesn’t work, so we thought that we could have a format where the most important teams in Europe play against each other from the very beginning of the season.”
“We worked out the numbers and felt we could make much more money, more money for all the other teams too.”
When asked about the withdrawals of the Premier League’s Big Six clubs, Perez stated: “There was one part of the English group that didn’t have much interest, I won’t say who.”
“I think this became contagious with the others. These directors are mostly American, maybe from the NFL or NBA. They’re leaving because of the atmosphere.”
“FIFA created a big spectacle. It was as if we had let off an atomic bomb. Maybe we didn’t explain it well, but they also didn’t give us an opportunity to explain it. Some people just didn’t want that.”
“I’ve never seen such aggression from the president of UEFA and some of the countries’ footballing authorities. I’ve been in football for 20 years and I’ve never seen threats like this.”
“It was like we killed someone. It was like we killed football. But, we were trying to work out how to save football.”
Perez said when asked about people who think the Super League is already over: “They’re completely wrong. I don’t think [the other clubs] have left yet. It’s clear in the contract that you can’t leave. Most people involved are directors who know this world.”
Perez spoke about the Super League being a closed one and how the founding members had earned the right to be founding members.
He said: “These teams have earned this. These are the teams that over the last 20 years have earned this. They have the biggest social media followings and the most fans.”
Perez was also asked about the effects on Real Madrid and why he didn’t consult with the other Real Madrid officials about joining the Super League. He responded: “Do I have to ask them which players to sign as well?”
“If we tell Real Madrid fans we’ll play against one of the Manchester teams or Barcelona each week, do you think they’d say ‘no’?”
“Do you not think they’d like, everything else staying the same, to play big teams instead of these matches that aren’t interesting until the quarter-finals?”
“There are some matches that I struggle to watch.”
