Last April 18th, an announcement that caused many negative reactions was made: the creation of a new soccer league called the European Super League (aka the Super League). The league itself consists of 12 clubs participating in a closed annual league, which means only those clubs will play, no matter how their season goes. This caused a lot of hate from soccer fans towards the idea. 

In only a matter of 48 hours, the Super League directors announced that the idea would be reconsidered, but that is not the worst part of it. For many, the worst part was finding out that the big six clubs in the Premier League would be joining the new European Super League. The big six teams include the following: Manchester United, Liverpool, Manchester City, Chelsea, Tottenham, and Arsenal. Fans were devastated that their favorite teams in the Premier were potentially leaving to form a new league, a league that we don’t even know is happening at this point. 

Not only are fans preoccupied, but the clubs and their leaders are also now at risk of losing money since each club contributed from €89 million to €310  million, according to the New York Times. The clubs would still be allowed to play in domestic leagues, but nothing as big as the Premier. But thanks to the negative response from fans, some of the big six clubs from the Premier have withdrawn from the sign-up in the Super League. However, the clubs Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, and Real Madrid, the big three of La Liga, are now considering joining the Super League. On the other hand, the German and French clubs that received an invitation rejected it, and many of the major leagues were thankful about it.

Since we haven’t heard more from the directors of the Super League, we don’t know for sure who has and hasn’t withdrawn their sign-up. However, we do have the statements from the major leagues, including the UEFA, Premier League, RFEF, La Liga, FIGC, FIFA, and Lega Serie A, in which they said that if this new league happens, all of them will stay united to stop this new project and avoid it at all costs since the Super League only looks out for the self-interest of its clubs. The UEFA released a statement: “The clubs concerned will be banned from playing in any other competition at domestic, European or world level, and their players could be denied the opportunity to represent their national teams.” Let’s hope this statement prevents the Super League from actually happening because ,not only will the directors and its clubs be affected, but also those famous and talented players.

Paulina Mendez ’22, Contributing Writer

22pmendez@montroseschool.org