Why the ESL Verdict Could Determine the Future of European Football?
The European footballing world was in danger of falling into complete disarray following the European Court’s decision to penalize UEFA for blocking the breakaway league, the European Super League back in 2021.
Super League verdict
Recently, the European Court of Justice announced a ruling that the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and the International Association Football Federation (FIFA) broke the Euro matches law when they halted the fruition of the breakaway league, the European Super League.
The European Court stated that the football governing bodies abused their position of power by preventing the launch of the European Super League as well as penalizing the European clubs that are involved in the project.
As a result, the A22 Sports Management firm that is behind the project celebrated the European Court’s decision and revived their promotion of the Super League. Two Spanish clubs, Real Madrid and Barcelona, which were previously involved in the breakaway league supported A22 on their campaign for the official launch of the Super League.
European Super League
In April 2021, several clubs announced the proposal for a news European club football league called the European Super League. The new club tournament was designed to replace the Euro matches of the Champions League, Confederation League, and Europa League which disrupts the domestic leagues. The league was supposed to be composed of 20 elite teams plus 15 other clubs.
The purpose of the breakaway league is to ensure that the clubs will still participate in their domestic leagues. In the Champions League, the clubs can only qualify for the competition depending on their rankings in their domestic Euro matches.
Despite being designed to simplify the inter-club tournaments in Europe, the proposal of the breakaway league was met with raised eyebrows. The governing bodies of FIFA and UEFA, as well as other clubs that are not involved in the secret project, condemned the new league and penalized the clubs involved.
Revival
Despite the ESL met with public protest, a few clubs that are involved in the project believed that the UEFA abused its power when they shot down the proposed league. Now that the European Court of Justice ruled out that FIFA and UEFA breached European laws, those who support the project were given new hope.
To be specific, the Spanish clubs Barcelona and Real Madrid seconded the motion of the European Court of Justice and stated that it is now time for the Super League to exist.
The new proposed format
Following the ruling of the European Court of Justice on the issue of the Super League, the previous format and structure of the European Super League was updated to fit the current landscape of European football.
According to the new format, the structure of the new Euro matches was composed of 64 participating clubs. Then the 64 teams were divided into three levels consisting of The Star League, The Gold League, and The Blue League which in turn will be divided into much lesser groups of eight squads.
The top tiers of the European Super League were the Gold League and The Star League. Each of the tiers was composed of 16 clubs, which in turn divided into two groups of eight teams. Meanwhile, The Blue League is a lesser Euro matches competition consisting of 32 clubs, divided into four groups with eight squads.
The qualification for the European Super League was based on sporting excellence with the list of members continuing to replenish annually based on the club’s success in the domestic league. The competition is composed of home and away games within groups of eight squads. There will be at least 14 matches annually; seven home matches and seven away matches.
One of the key differences between the European Super League to the UEFA Champions League is that the schedule of the tournament will be played from September to April. The games will take place in the middle of the week to avoid clashing with the schedule of the domestic football competitions. Meanwhile, the semi-finals and finals will be held from April to May.
Final words
The Super League is an elite competition that was designed to integrate the convoluted structure of the current Euro matches. Now that it has been revived, European football will never be the same.
