Real Madrid president Florentino Perez said the European Super League could represent a “new era for football”.
Perez explained during Real Madrid’s annual meeting on Saturday: “Football is suffering from an unprecedented institutional crisis at all levels in Spain or in Europe. The main problem is the series of managers who act without thinking about people. We will continue to work to bring football back to a greater number of fans around the world.
Perez added in his fiery statements: “European football does not belong to the Slovenian Aleksandar Ceferin, the president of the European Football Association. Spanish football does not belong to the president of the Spanish League. Football belongs not to anyone, but football to everyone. The goal of the Super League is very clear: to give clubs the best competition.
Peres added in his statements, which were reported by “The Athletic” network: “We must impose once and for all the utmost respect for the rules of financial fair play. To achieve this, we need transparent and modern corporate governance structures, adapted to the 21st century, subject to EU principles and laws. “
He added of European football’s governing body: “UEFA is managing the competition as it was 30 years ago. Without innovation, without modernization, without transparency, without bringing competition closer to the masses. “We’ve seen many examples of large companies that seemed invincible in their fields going bankrupt because they didn’t know how to modernize and adapt to the times.”
“So on December 21, when we hear the judgment of the European Court of Justice in this case, we believe it will mark the beginning of a new era for football,” Perez added.
Real Madrid was one of the 12 founding members of a proposed new European competition called the European Super League, which failed in a chaotic 72 hours in April 2021.
The ill-fated plan to create a European Super League was announced on 18 April 2021, with 12 of Europe’s top clubs from England, Spain and Italy confirming their desire to launch their own competition in midweek to rival the Champions League.
The proposed competition includes 6 English clubs: Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool and 3 Italian clubs: Juventus, AC Milan and Inter Milan, along with the Spanish trio Atletico Madrid, Barcelona. , and Real Madrid.
However, 9 clubs backed out after receiving backlash from politicians, broadcasters, pundits, coaches and fans, while Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus followed suit.
Juventus confirmed their intention to withdraw from any future plans in June this year.
Organizers announced a revamped format for the controversial tournament last February, in which 60 to 80 teams will compete in a “multi-category tournament”. They say the new-look Super League will be based solely on “game performance” without permanent members.
The European Court of Justice ruled in UEFA’s favor in December 2022, and a final binding ruling – originally expected to be issued last March – is scheduled to be issued next December.
Real Madrid, along with La Liga rivals Barcelona, have continued to maintain their support for the project, with Perez using the club’s annual general meeting to do so again, criticizing UEFA’s current administration.
On the other hand, the president of the Spanish league “La Liga”, Javier Tebas, responded to Perez’s statements, in several posts through his official account on the “X” site, where he began by saying that Perez believes that he is a person. Like a “savior” in football and only he can save the game.
“He (Perez) adds the most dangerous lies about La Liga, he lies about the president’s salary increase, he lies about the transparency of La Liga, he lies about the confiscation of TV rights,” Debas wrote. The only thing that reflects his increasingly wild lies is that he wants everything to revolve around what he thinks.
Debas added: “The Spanish league is a democratic system where voting is secret, and if Real Madrid are not elected to the delegation, it’s because they don’t have the necessary support, that’s easy.”
