The European Super League is back among the headlines in the footballing world after the European Court of Justice ruled FIFA and UEFA attempts to block the formation of the league in 2021.
Both governing bodies threatened to impose heavy sanctions on the 12 clubs that were founders of the competition with Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, and Tottenham Hotspur taking part from the Premier League, Italian clubs Inter Milan, Juventus, and AC Milan, and La Liga clubs Atlético Madrid, Barcelona, and Real Madrid.
The formation led to widespread protests from supporters, with the Premier League and UEFA slamming the thought of a new Super League. However, the backlash has now been ruled unlawful in the eyes of the ECJ which believe UEFA and FIFA were abusing their market dominance by threatening to punish clubs who wanted to break away.
Now, the ESL has announced a brand new 64-team format which will include no permanent members. The revised format for the competition would see 64 men's and 32 women's teams playing midweek in a league system across Europe, with the criteria around the formation based on 'sporting merit'.
The three-tier competition includes the 'Star League' (16 clubs), the 'Gold League' (16 clubs) and 'Blue League' (32 clubs) and will consist of annual promotion and relegation between leagues while promotion into the 'Blue League' would be based upon domestic league performance.
So far, at 1pm on Thursday December 21,Manchester United and Bayern Munich have slammed the new format, with the Bundesliga giants viewing it as «as an attack on the importance of the national leagues.»
European Super League announces new 64-team, 'sporting merit' format amid Arsenal, Chelsea ruling
Barcelona
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