The body governing football in Europe, UEFA, has continued to insist that the proposed European Super League is not a good development for world football. The vice-president of the football governing body, Fernando Gomes said the proposed league “violates all principles of sporting merit”.
Earlier, UEFA issued a statement to rubbish the proposed league which seeks to rival the prestigious UEFA Champions League. The proposed European Super League is said to be for just the biggest clubs in Europe. Clubs like Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Liverpool, Manchester United, and a host of others have been mentioned as some of the clubs that have been approached to join the league.
It has been reported that the league would be funded by an American bank JP Morgan and $6 billion has been set aside to run the league. It has also been reported that the European Super League would commence in 2022.
Among all the top clubs that have been said to be linked with the Super League, only FC Barcelona have confirmed their acceptance of the proposed league. The outgoing president of the Spanish club, Josep Maria Bartomeu said on Tuesday that Barcelona have approved their participation in the proposed league.
Since he has resigned together with his board, it is now left for the incoming board of the club to execute what the tenure of Bartomeu has agreed on. According to his comments during his press conference on Friday, Bartomeu’s administration accepted the proposed league for financial benefits.
But Fernando Gomes argued that the proposed league is nothing but a “self-proclaimed privileged club” and the league in his home country, Portugal, won’t support it.
He also urged other league bodies across Europe to show no support for the proposed league just like how the former coach of Arsenal, Arsene Wenger, has urged the Premier League not to support the plan.
Wenger: European Super League would 'destroy' the Premier League pic.twitter.com/HxlbARQaKq
— Guardian sport (@guardian_sport) October 28, 2020
Fernando Gomes said, “It deserves my refusal because the world is currently experiencing its greatest challenge, at least for the last century, and the last thing it needs is the exacerbation of selfishness and greed.”
“In my opinion, all governing bodies should refuse it in a very clear way.”
Besides UEFA, the Vice President of UEFA, the president of world football governing body FIFA, Gianni Infantino, and FIFA itself have all spoken against the proposed league. This means that it would take a lot of effort from those behind the plan to successfully actualize it.
