Superliga: this is how the rebellion of the 12 involved was conceived

Florentino Pérez and Andrea Agnelli. The presidents of Real Madrid and Juventus were the ones who led the revolutionary step of creating a Super League among the best clubs in Europe. The project had a very strong financial backing. It had behind, in fact, American investment funds such as JP Morgan. Their good relationship with some American club owners in Europe was critical, especially Malcolm Glazer (Manchester United) and John Henry (Liverpool).

The argument to convince the teams with the most traction in Europe was simple: the pandemic has hit their economies like never before. Losses last season ranged from 15 million euros for United to 204 for Milan. Atlético lost 100, Madrid 101, Barcelona 175, Juventus 194 … Nobody was saved from the red numbers. Given this situation, agreeing to play a tournament that ensures 350 million per team and has an emergency fund of 3,500 was something relatively expected.

Still, some clubs were reluctant to the plan. In Germany it is said that Bayern and Dortmund did not want to know anything about a rebellion against UEFA. Neither does PSG, which has its president Nasser Al Khelaifi as a member of the UEFA Executive Committee as a representative of the ECA (European Club Association). This time it was his turn to sweep home instead of supporting a revolution.

Change sides

Also to Agnelli, who nevertheless took the opposite path. From his position as president of the ECA, a position he left last night when the Super League was announced, he had a preferential seat on the UEFA Executive Committee. He was able to play two cards. He pressured UEFA to remodel the Champions League and, when he saw that the business was not sweet enough, he allied with Florentino to blow up European football with a Super League.

The ECA, made up of 246 clubs in Europe, called an emergency meeting on Sunday after news of the Super League leaked. But the rebellion was already underway. Of the 12 founding clubs of the new tournament, some declined to take part in the video call. Others did, but only as spectators. They did not have an opinion. Thus, a few hours later, the ECA issued a statement in favor of UEFA and contrary to the Super League, which, curiously, was not signed by its president, Andrea Agnelli. Later it would be known why.

Meanwhile, in UEFA the information of a possible announcement of the Super League arrived a few hours from the Executive Committee that must decide the future of the Champions League. In Montreux, in the middle of Lake Geneva, the reaction was the same as other times: remember that anyone who played competitions not covered by UEFA would be exempt from their tournaments, including Euro Cups. Something similar to what FIFA announced later. However, this time the ordeal was very serious. The threat of creating a Super League is already a reality …