Twelve teams of wealthy Europeans are launching the “Premier League”, the rival in the Champions League

It is now official. 12 major European clubs announced they are creating their own UEFA Champions League competition on Sunday, April 18th. The “Premier League” will consist of “founding clubs” that include Italian, English and Spanish teams: Milan, Arsenal, Atletico Madrid, Chelsea, FC Barcelona, ​​Inter Milan, Juventus, Liverpool, Manchester City and Manchester United. And Real Madrid and Tottenham. “The opening season (…) will start as soon as possible.”, The script continues, without specifying an exact timeline, and three more clubs will be invited. This project, Promoters Explained, is dedicated to “Generating additional resources for the entire football pyramid”.

You will receive established clubs One-off payment of 3.5 billion eurosDefines the press release, “Dedicated only for investments in infrastructure and offsetting the impact of the Coronavirus crisis.”. If this figure is confirmed, it assumes much higher revenues than UEFA’s for all club competitions (UEFA Champions League, Europa League, UEFA Super Cup), which generated $ 3.2 billion in TV revenues in 2018-2019.

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According to its promoters, this “Premier League” will run as a regular season among 20 clubs, fifteen of them (“Established Clubs”) automatically qualifying each year and the other five benefiting from the invitations. “Through a system based on their performance from the previous season.”. At the end of this first phase which begins in August, the end-of-season playoffs will be held until May to award the cup.

This is a real declaration of war by these rich clubs on UEFA, the European football association that organizes the prestigious Champions League. Even before this new competition was formalized, it was threatening to disqualify splinter teams from any of them Competition at the national, European or global level. ” The UEFA Executive Committee was due to meet on Monday to approve the reform of the Champions League, which is supposed to cut the rug from under the feet of supporters of a special competition.

It is difficult, right now, to know what will happen to the expected reform of the UEFA Champions League by 2024. It is assumed that this comprehensive reform created in relation to the European Club Association (ECA) that collects the periods of the Continent, will be approved on Monday by the European Football Union (UEFA). UEFA) with the group stage being replaced by a mini-tournament with 36 clubs aiming to secure more matches, and thus more income for the big clubs.

On the other hand, UEFA thanked clubs from other countries, “Especially the French and German clubs that refused to follow this path.” Indeed, Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich, the Champions League finalists, are not among the founders of the “Premier League”.

Throughout Sunday, positions multiplied to denounce the creation of such a closed competition between rich clubs, starting with European Club Association (ECA), which includes all the leading names in European football. “ECA, as the representative body for 246 leading clubs across Europe, reaffirms its commitment to work on developing the UEFA Club Competition model, along with UEFA, for the cycle starting in 2024.”This association is headed by Italian Andrea Agnelli, president of Juventus Turin.

Symbolizing the file’s importance, the Elysee slammed a project Threatening the principle of solidarity and mathematical merit. Sports Minister Roxana Maracinho denounced one “VIP Club for a Few Powerful People”. Another political reaction, is the reaction of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who initiated this project “It would be very harmful to football.” : “National football will hurt the heart and cause anxiety among fans across the country.”, He tweeted.