A revived European Super League has been proposed, driven by the A22 company that proposed the 12 club closed shop venture in April 2021.
A furious reaction from fans of English clubs quickly forced the withdrawal of six clubs but the idea has been bouncing around the game since the creation of the Champions League in the early nineties.
The inclusion of runners-up was a major break with tradition in the so-called Champions League with clubs finishing fourth in the richest leagues getting guaranteed group stage access while the champions from most UEFA leagues have to battle though upto four qualifying rounds to join the elite.
UEFA have been battling to retain control but a new 80 team proposal guaranteeing each club a minimum of 14 matches with open access could prove to be a major challenge.
This season Celtic had just three home UEFA matches, more than doubling that within a set up where they could progress through divisions would certainly have appeal to Dermot Desmond.
Sky Sports reports:
A new-look, open European Super League could contain up to 80 teams in a multi-divisional format, the competition’s chief executive has said.
The competition would be based on sporting performance only with no permanent members, A22 chief executive Bernd Reichart told German newspaper Die Welt.
A22, a company formed to sponsor and assist with the creation of the Super League, has consulted with nearly 50 European clubs since October last year and developed 10 principles based on that consultation which underpin its plans for a new-look league.
Reichart wrote: “The foundations of European football are in danger of collapsing.
“It’s time for a change. It is the clubs that bear the entrepreneurial risk in football. But when important decisions are at stake, they are too often forced to sit idly by on the sidelines as the sporting and financial foundations crumble around them.”
After the Trojan Horse failed in April 2021 another attempt was inevitable, opening the doors to an additional 68 teams is bound to find plenty of backing across Europe.
BREAKING: A new-look, open European Super League could contain up to 80 teams in a multi-divisional format, the competition’s chief executive has said. pic.twitter.com/AjFSAtF70j
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) February 9, 2023
Have a Euro super league, sure, but make it last a full season and if clubs are participating in it then they are excluded from their home league for that season. Then the following season that club returns to their home league and are replaced in the super league by the home league champs. That spreads the wealth and trophies about a bit too and ensures a fresh crop of teams each year in the super league.
Wait that’s too egalitarian, so that idea can get binned…