Atlético made the decision on Wednesday to get off the Super League train, just two days after having approved that he would be one of the twelve Founders. It has been three days in which the news has happened around this project and, finally, with the rojiblanco club moving away from the Superliga, Miguel Ángel Gil Marín wanted to apologize to the Atlético family. Thus, the CEO wanted to send a letter to the 130,000 members regretting “the confusion” and explaining the position and the decisions that have been taken.
This is the full letter of the statement:
Dear member:
I hope that you and yours are well in these complicated moments that we are having to live.
First, I would like to apologize for the confusion that has been generated in recent days in European football and explain in detail the position of Atlético de Madrid and the decisions we have made. And I want to do it personally and not through the media or our website.
As you know, we have just achieved our ninth consecutive qualification for the group stage of the Champions League, the result of a huge effort to consolidate Atleti among the great teams in Europe. This has also been achieved thanks to your support and that of all athletic fans. We have to be proud of having achieved it together: players, coaching staff, fans and the club.
Atleti has earned a place among the main clubs in Europe, Which has allowed us so far to contribute our opinion and experience both in the League and in the ECA (European Club Association), always seeking the sustainability of football in times of extreme economic difficulty.
In this sense, the club decided to accept the invitation to be part of the Super League with the intention of defending the interests of Atlético de Madrid from within an organization that had as one of its main objectives is to dialogue and negotiate with UEFA the search for new formats that promote a balanced management of sporting and economic rights and including criteria of solidarity with the entire football family. We certainly joined clubs bigger than ours and with different philosophies, but we couldn't afford not to be in that group of teams which are the main content generators in the world of football.
However, the conditions and circumstances under which our incorporation into said group was to take place have not been fulfilled and consequently today we have decided not to finally consolidate our membership to the project.
Nevertheless, Atlético de Madrid will continue to participate whenever possible in forums, organizations and institutions who seek solutions aimed at improving our sport.
Our obligation is to follow providing the club with sports, economic and social stability for the next decades. The growth achieved in recent years has been achieved with the utmost respect for our identity and our values. Logically it is not a simple task, but never before has so much been done for the stability of the club, to recover and maintain its greatness in Europe, for praising our history, for honoring our legends, for giving the fans a much more complete service, for improving our facilities, for providing the Academy with a broad structure of men's and women's teams …
Sometimes some fans may not share certain decisions, but you should know that all of them are taken from the conviction that they are the best for Atlético de Madrid.
We have before us, both in the short and medium term, challenges that excite us all: we are competing for the league title with 7 days to go, We continue to add fans around the world, growing exponentially, especially among children, we work to improve our infrastructures and offer all the athletic players better services … All these challenges are within our reach if we stay together, if we respect and help each other and, If we continue to work humbly and with a lot of effort, I am convinced that we will achieve them.
A strong hug,
Miguel Angel Gil
CEO