Real Madrid and Barcelona remain committed to the ESL
Barcelona president Joan Laporta has claimed that the European Super League is a necessity given the current financial climate. However, he also maintained that the club’s members would have the final say on the proposal.
“We had a position, and we still have one, and we will explain,” he told TV3. “The position is one of caution, but it [ESL] is a necessity. On the other hand, as it should be, our members will have the last word on it.
“It’s absolutely necessary that the big clubs, given that we generate a lot of revenue, we want to have the capacity to have our say on the sharing process. And also, we believe that it’s important that this is accompanied by an attractive competition based on sporting merit.
“We are the defenders of maintaining local leagues, and therefore, we are always open to dialogue with UEFA. That is the premise. Everyone wants to make football better and have the necessary resources to make it a great spectacle.
“Because if the big clubs don’t have these resources, football will be damaged. There will be institutional harmony and a willingness to think about all this.
“There was a series of pressure which made some clubs pull out or value it in a different way, but the fact is that the proposal still exists, but more resources are needed given that we have important investment, we paid important salaries, and if we want football to be a spectacle through sporting merits, whoever wants this level of quality to be maintained must take into account what we are proposing.”
The Spanish outfits were one of the 12 founding members of the project, which collapsed prematurely earlier this week.
However, Real Madrid and Barcelona remain keen on the project, and it will be interesting to see if they can revive the European Super League in future.
The likes of Laporta and Florentino Perez believe that the European Super League would provide the finances necessary to cope with the losses of the pandemic, but six English clubs withdrew their participation from the competition following massive protests.
Ceferin urged Karl-Heinz Rummenigge to help unite the ESL founders with UEFA
Meanwhile, UEFA chief Alexander Ceferin has now urged the Bayern Munich chief Karl-Heinz Rummenigge to help unite the ESL founders with UEFA and advise them to abandon their Super League plans.
The Bayern chief revealed that he believes in discussions and not war. Therefore, he will look to solve the problem that has engulfed the world of football in recent weeks. Rummenigge will work to bring back happiness, harmony and loyalty to the world of football and help calm down the storm.
“Bayern didn’t win, nor Rummenigge, but real football. The one we are all in love with,” he told Tuttosport.
“I’m known for being a man of dialogue and not of war. So the president of UEFA, Ceferin, asked me to give him a hand in order to solve the problems and start again after very difficult days for the world of football.
“I would immediately bring back happiness, harmony and loyalty to the whole world of football. Unfortunately, I don’t have it, so we’ll have to work.
“Let’s wait to see for the storm to calm down; then we will focus on dialogue. President Ceferin, and I think like him, has reassured me in the last few hours that he has no intentions of closing the door in the face of anyone.”
The likes of Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund refused to accept invitations to join the European Super League, and Rummenigge was a key reason behind that decision. He will now play as a mediator to convince the two Spanish clubs how the European Super League could affect the world of football negatively.
It will be interesting to see if he can bridge the gap between the founding members of the European Super League and UEFA over the coming weeks.
