The Super League no longer exists. To give her the coup de grace, at the end of a hectic day like never before, the English teams, officially released, one after the other, complete with apologies to their fans. The first about-face was made by the Manchester City at 22.20 pm, with a statement on his website, after which they joined Liverpool, Arsenal, Tottenham, Manchester United e Chelsea. England therefore leaves en bloc, putting the remaining clubs with their backs to the wall: at this point, for obvious reasons, talking about the Super League no longer makes sense.
After the defection of the British, theInter made it known of no longer be interested in the SuperLega project. Not only that: also Barcelona e Atletico Madrid, although they have not yet officially expressed their position, they seem about to leave, overwhelmed by doubts, criticisms, fear of having taken a too hasty step.
Thus remain the "hard and pure", that is Real Madrid, Juventus e Milan, even if their power, in the light of the facts, has melted like snow in the sun. So much so that the same Andrea Agnell, president of Juventus and vice president of the Super League, he admitted to Reuters that the project has in fact been aborted: “The project cannot go ahead. I remain convinced of its goodness, but you can't have a six-team tournament".
On the stock exchange it is the day of the collapse: the Juventus (- 13,35% to 0,756 euros) which, in Milan, reneges on Monday's leap forward, immediately after the announcement of the SuperLega. And loses altitude in New York on Manchester United which closed at -6,03% on Tuesday evening and threatens to do the same in today's pre-market.
They won FIFA and UEFA, there is no doubt about this, supported en bloc by politicians, Boris Johnson and Macron in the lead, but also by millions of fans, compact and furious as never before. The clubs in question, despite all their power, have been overwhelmed: by threats from sports institutions, from words of their own membersand at our demonstrative gestures of fans.
The first pick came from the FIFA president Gianni Infantino, whose words have left no room for any interpretation. “I want to be extremely clear: like Fifa we strongly condemn the creation of a Super League, something closed, an escape from football institutions, whoever wants to leave will pay the consequences – the categorical comment expressed at the UEFA congress in Montreaux – If some choose to go on their way, they have to accept the consequences, they are responsible for their own choices. Concretely, this means that either you are in or you are out”.
No space to deal, nor to keep the foot in both shoes, at the cost of arriving at sensational decisions such as exclude the "Magnificent 12" from their respective leagues and their players from the national teams. Scenario, it is fair to underline it, all to be demonstrated, because the European Antitrust, as recalled by Gianni Petrucci (who suffered the split in basketball in 2000, with the consequent creation of the Euroleague), does not provide for this type of sanctions for private companies ( thing reaffirmed yesterday by the court of Madrid).
But the British felt that all this was enough, especially after the intervention of the political institutions, since Boris Johnson al prince William, almost as if participation in the Super League, despite the (many) promised millions, risked turning into a sensational own goal. And so in the afternoon, while Florentino Perez raised his voice (“I'm not afraid that someone will withdraw”) and Andrea Agnelli gave interviews to Republic and Corriere dello Sport to explain the benefits of the tournament, Manchester City, United, Arsenal, Tottenham, Liverpool and Chelsea were preparing the turnaround.
In the evening, while the "Brexit of the Superleague" became a reality, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid also revealed their doubts, making an emergency meeting between all the clubs in question necessary. At 22.30pm, ten minutes after City's official statement announcing their farewell to the project, the eleven remaining logged on to face each other and decide what to do.
There wasn't much to say, because an hour later the other English women communicated on their respective social profiles that they had reconsidered, even going so far as to apologize (this is the case of Arsenal) for the move made. The rest of the castle will almost certainly collapse today, even if Juve and Milan, at least officially, have not yet taken a stand.
A 12-man Super League (Bayern Monaco, Borussia Dortmund and PSG have never joined) was already a gamble, a 5-man (Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Juventus and Milan) simply does not exist. The clubs in question, therefore, come back with their tails between their legs and many bruises (fortunately metaphorical, even if the protests before Chelsea-Brighton risked degenerating) in addition, strengthening the leadership of FIFA and UEFA, at least in appearance.
Because the creation of the Superlega, as risky as you like, has nonetheless shaken football to its foundations, reiterating to the institutions the need to review formulas and fees of the European cups. Second RmcSport, Ceferin, beyond the public declarations, would be thinking of a new Champions League which, thanks to an English fund, could bring the beauty of seven billion euros, double what JP Morgan had allocated for the Superleague. Florentino Perez and Andrea Agnelli, if true, could end up willingly accepting even a bad figure like this...
(Updated at 13:51pm Wednesday, April 21, 2021)
