The keys to the rejection of PSG and the Bundesliga to the Superliga

Follow live the reactions to the creation of the European Super League

The war is more than served. “Twelve of the most important football clubs in Europe announce today that they have reached an agreement to form a new competition, the Super League, governed by its Founding Clubs,” began the statement that gave shape to the new project. Twelve teams that did not include giants like Bayern Munich and PSG, the great absentees.

FIFA and UEFA are opposed and have made it clear that they do not approve “a European separatist league”, as stated in the letter published by the first of the organizations that completed the lighting for the second shortly before. In this, UEFA recalled that those who participate in the Super League “will not be able to play in any other competition at national, European or world level, and their players could be deprived of the opportunity to represent their national teams. “

The mess is more than served, but as we say, among the twelve members does not appear a PSG that has distanced itself from this titanic project. The Athletic notes that within the club they understand that it would be “disrespectful” to support such a plan. In addition, this Monday they were willing to discuss UEFA's plan for the new Champions League for the triennium 2024-2027, which would go from 32 to 36 teams.

The Parisian team considers, according to the information provided by the aforementioned media, that this new competition should not be limited to the richest clubs in Europe, as well as it understands that entities such as Ajax, Atalanta or Leicester, with less economic packaging, should have their opportunity. “We remain faithful to the tradition of UEFA”, adds a source consulted by The Athletic.

Dilemma

From France, L'Équipe raises the logical dilemma that this poses for a team like PSG. Nasser Al-Khelaïfi has opted for fidelity for the moment. But of course, the unknowns are endless. “How can you not participate in the competition that brings together the best European teams when you are doing everything you can to match them?”, raises the French newspaper. The question is logical. Filling the Parque de los Príncipes would not be as simple without the visit of Real Madrid, Manchester City, Barcelona, ​​Juventus and company. Maintaining sponsorships would not be either. “The economic risks would be incomparable,” they add. And of course, “It would be more difficult to retain players like Neymar and Mbappé”. Nobody is aware that planetary stars such as the Parisian stars would not welcome being left out of the competition that would be placed in the center of the constellation …

Al-Khelaïfi

The position of Nasser Al-Khelaïfi, president of PSG, is also relevant. Since he took charge of the capital's team in October 2011, the Qatari has been adding positions to his personal resume. He is now in charge of BeIN Sports, of the Miramax film company and is a member of the organizing committee of the Qatar 2022 World Cup. In 2016 he was named “the most powerful man in French football” and in 2019 he was elected as a member of the UEFA Executive Committee, being the first non-European as a senior position in it. Therefore, the Super League goes against the body to which Al-Khelaïfi belongs. The same one that threatens to leave out competitions such as the 2022 World Cup to the participants in this new project.

Bayern Munich and the '50 +1 '

On the other hand, we already said that the other great absentee is Bayern Munich. Both the Munich team and Borussia Dortmund, the other giant of the Bundesliga, have shown their opposition to the Superliga as indicated by the German media 'ZDF'. Christian Seifert, CEO of the Bundesliga, expressed his opinion as follows: “The DFL rejects any concept of a European Super League. The economic interests of a few leading clubs in England, Italy, and Spain must not lead to the suppression of the structures established throughout European football … “.

Borussia Dortmund also rejects the Super League. This was made clear by the German team in a statement issued through its website and in which Hans-Joachim Watzke, CEO of BVB, explains that it goes hand in hand with Bayern Munich in the fight against a competition that endangers the levels of world football.

“The members of the board of directors of the European Club Association (ECA) met in a virtual conference on Sunday night and reaffirmed that the decision of the board of directors of last Friday is still valid,” Watzke is quoted in the note press. “This decision establishes that the clubs want to implement the planned reform of the UEFA Champions League. The opinion of the members of the ECA board of directors is that they reject the plans to create a Super League,” underlined the head of Borussia .

Watzke also made the following clear: “The two German clubs represented on the ECA Board of Directors, Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, shared the same views in all discussions.” The RB Leipzig, another of the clubs that had been related to the project, has also refused to join the Superliga sAs reported by Sky Germany.

This rejection is understood if we take into account the '50 + 1 rule' existing in the German competition. This clause, informally named for explanatory purposes, seeks to ensure that club members retain overall control of the club. “To compete in the Bundesliga, a club must have the majority of its own voting rights. In other words, 50% plus one vote has to be in the hands of the club and its partners,” explains the official website of the championship. .

There are exceptions, such as Bayer Leverkusen and Wolfsburg, because “if a person or company has substantially financed a club for a continuous period of at least 20 years, there is the possibility that said investor may have a majority participation”. But as we say, they are specific exceptions. The '50 +1 'is a clause that makes the Bundesliga unique and that is why it can be understood that they do not want to be part of a competition that would divide the footballing planet and expand the differences between large and small.

Something that Seifert has always advocated and has made again is that traditional national leagues must not be harmed. Furthermore, in 2019 he already made it clear that “this would sustainably harm all of European football.” While he remembered “the number of games that would be added to the calendar” and difficulties “of access to international competitions”. As in the case of PSG, it is difficult to imagine a project of such depth without Bayern or Borussia Dortmund, but the main organizations of both countries have been very clear.