European Super League UK's Johnson vows to prevent creation of new European Super League
London/Sputnik: UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Monday that his government would do everything possible to prevent the creation of a European football Super League in the form proposed by the authors of this initiative.
On Sunday, 12 of Europe's leading soccer clubs — AC Milan, Arsenal, Atletico Madrid, Chelsea, Barcelona, Inter Milan, Juventus, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Real Madrid and Tottenham Hotspur — officially announced the establishment of the Super League, a new European club football tournament.
The new Super League competition includes 20 teams — 15 founders and another 5 teams qualified for the tournament every year in accordance with their achievements in the prior season. According to the official statement, the Super League will help clubs overcome the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, as it showed the importance of "a strategic vision and a sustainable commercial approach" to maintain the European football system.
"I don’t like the look of these proposals ... We are going to look at everything that we can do with the football authorities to make sure that this doesn’t go ahead in the way that it’s currently being proposed. I don’t think that it’s good news for fans, I don’t think it’s good news for football in this country," Johnson told reporters.
The announcement was met with widespread criticism not only from the FIFA and UEFA leaderships, as well as the national football associations of European states. Critics believe that this initiative may have a negative impact on lesser-known and not rich clubs and thus hinder the popularization of football.
"These clubs are not just great global brands – of course they’re great global brands – they’re also clubs that have originated historically from their towns, from their cities, from their local communities. They should have a link with those fans, and with the fanbase in their community. So it is very, very important that that continues to be the case," Johnson added.
The UK prime minister previously criticized the initiative on Twitter.
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