In what will be seen as a massive blow for the ‘suspended’ European Super League plans, JP Morgan have pulled out their £3.5 billion investment in the breakaway tournament after the Premier League clubs decided to not continue with the project due to mass protests.
Standard Ethics rates companies by evaluating their sustainability and is modelled on credit-ratings agencies and this past week, JP Morgan had their rating diminished from adequate to non-reliable.
‘We clearly misjudged how this deal would be viewed by the wider football community and how it might impact them in the future.
‘We will learn from this.’ Said the investment bank in a statement.
The plan for the financing company was to pay each and every participating club a sum between €200 million and €300 million. Additionally, the winners of the competition would receive a sum worth around €400-500 million.
However, the plans that were announced on Sunday effectively collapsed within 48 hours due to the massive protests across the world. Fans gathered outside stadiums, most notably outside of Stamford Bridge in London, where Petr Cech himself had to come out to calm down the Chelsea fans.
Manchester City followed suite shortly after, and subsequently, all English and Italian clubs have left the plan. Atletico Madrid are the only Spanish club that has pulled out of the tournament, with Barcelona and Real Madrid being the only ones still somewhat confident in reviving the plans.
With the money out of the project, it’s safe to say that the project has no hope of coming back up to the surface anytime soon.
