No sanctions, but an ultimatum loud and clear. The UEFA Executive Committee, which met yesterday to talk about the European venues (at least officially), focused above all on the Superlega affair, deciding, predictably, not to punish any of the so-called "splitters". Therefore, the semi-finals of the Champions League (Real Madrid-Chelsea and Psg-Manchester City) and Europa League (Manchester United-Roma and Villarreal-Arsenal) will be regularly staged on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, as expected. In fact, only an extreme scenario could have led Nyon to use an iron fist with Real, Chelsea, City, United and Arsenal. end up violating the regulation (teams cannot be excluded from an ongoing competition for something that has not yet happened) and thus incur a series of legal consequences, from the clubs concerned and, above all, from the televisions that own the rights.
However, the situation changes if you think about next season, first of all because the time margins are wider: many expected a position from Ceferin and the Uefa president, the great protagonist of this week, did not disappoint expectations. “It is clear that the clubs will have to decide whether they want to be part of the European competitions or the Super League – explained the number one from Nyon -. In the first case, of course, they won't play in the Champions League, but if they're ready to do so, they can participate in their competition. We are still waiting for the legal report and then we will decide what to do, but everyone will have to face the consequences of their decisions and they know it well. However, there is a very different situation between the clubs that have admitted their mistake and abandoned the project and the others, who instead don't want to believe that everything is over even though they know it well".
This last jab is all for Real Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus and Milan, or rather the four companies which, despite having acknowledged the impossibility of proceeding with the Superlega, have not yet officially pulled out of it. Because Ceferin, after the betrayal of the last few days, is not satisfied with winning but even wants to triumph, going so far as to demand that the opponents get, metaphorically of course, on their knees. Otherwise, as can be seen from the words spoken immediately afterwards, very heavy sanctions will come, never seen before. “Real Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus and Milan have not left the project and their managers could suffer some consequences – continued the UEFA president -. Anyone who continues to be involved in the Superleague in the future will not be able to play in UEFA competitions, which would be fantastic even without these four clubs." Now an official position is expected from them, who will have to definitively decide which side to take.
Acknowledge the bankruptcy of the Super League project, as Real Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus and Milan have done, is not enough: it is urgent to clearly dissociate, perhaps adding an apology as the English teams did, not surprisingly cited as an example. The feeling is that you are exaggerating a bit, because it is fine to defend your territory and fight a battle in strong tones, but getting to humiliate some of the largest companies in the world is definitely out of place. But Ceferin, after having defused the bomb together with Boris Johnson, even feels invincible, to the point of hypothesizing, he first, a Champions League without some of his cornerstones. It is probably a provocation, but woe to underestimate the Slovenian lawyer, who climbed to the top of the pyramid in 2016 and decided to stay there as long as possible: the ability to forgive, honestly, does not seem to be his best gift of him. However, Juventus and Milan can console themselves with an interlocutory day on the internal front, namely that of the Lega Serie A.
Yesterday's Assembly promised battle but in the end, except for a reprimand by President Dal Pino (disheartened, among many, by Juve) on the funds issue, she wearily dragged on talking about TV rights, thus postponing the Superlega theme to the next time. When the international scenarios will be a little clearer, in perfect Italian style.
