Super League offers weekly big games at the expense of other teams and fans

By: Emmanuel Mendez

Football fans in England protest after hearing the Super League proposal. Credit: nydailynews.com

On April 18th, 2021, a statement was released by 12 of the biggest clubs in the world uniting to form the ‘Super League’, which consists of 20 teams in total. 15 teams are guaranteed a spot every year in the competition, which includes the 12 founding clubs and 5 remaining spots are for other teams to qualify, based on achievements in the prior season. 

The 12 clubs include three clubs from Spain, which are Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, and Atletico Madrid. This also includes three clubs from Italy which are Juventus, AC Millan, and Inter Milan. The final six clubs are from England, which are Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea, and Tottenham Hotspurs. 

The Super League contacted PSG, Borussia Dortmund, and Bayern Munich to join, but they denied the invite. The Union of European Football Associations and FIFA stated if any player plays in this tournament, they will be banned from playing in the Champions League and banned from playing with their national teams. 

The whole situation was a complete mess that almost ruined the sport millions of fans watch. The project is pure greed from the owners of these clubs. 

The main three who put their names on the statement were Florentino Perez of Real Madrid, Andrea Agnelli of Juventus, and Joel Glazer of Manchester United. There was a lot of speculation before this announcement that in the future, a Super League would probably happen, and to now finally reveal the plan to the public is scary. 

The owners of these clubs state this isn’t to get away from the clubs’ respective leagues, it’s to “save football.” They insist that these Super League games will help these clubs’ financial problems, but at the expense of other clubs. 

Perez spoke in an interview believing football is dying and that young people between 16-24 are losing interest. Perez believes that the Champions League does not bring enough money.

I cannot believe Perez thinks young people aren’t interested anymore, when there are more platforms and social media that talk about football 24/7. If the Super League were to happen, these big, exciting games would be weekly, and generally, it would cause excitement. 

However, having it weekly year after year would make these encounters boring. An FC Barcelona versus Liverpool weekly would become normal and then no one would feel as excited. 

The major controversy about this that gives away that this plan is all about money in the competition itself. The Super League will have the same 12 teams there regardless of their performances. 

One of those 12 clubs could be in the last place and nothing of consequence will happen to them. This means those 12 clubs are just there to receive that extra pay for their benefit and it’s a competition where the rich clubs get richer while the poor clubs get poorer. 

If the Super League didn’t disrupt the leagues, the leagues would still be pointless. All 12 clubs will be so much better that they will have the best of the best players every year. There would be less competition in the leagues for the smaller clubs. 

A team like Burnley wouldn’t be able to compete with Liverpool for years. That’s the magic of football now because it is so unpredictable. Earlier in the season, Aston Villa defeated Liverpool 7-1. 

In 2016, Leicester City, a small club with not as many resources as Man City and Man Utd, won the Premier League against all the odds. It was incredible and many had many fans in shock. 

Getting rid of the Champions League was ridiculous as well. You don’t give teams that earned their place in the league a chance to make an impact in the tournament. That’s what helps those “smaller” clubs have a chance to improve both with their game and with their finances. 

The Champions League generates a lot of money for teams who earn their spot, and the Super League doesn’t recognize these efforts, it’s only for money. At the end of the day, football is a sport and sport should be always competitive. 

The Super League is only there getting more bucks in these owners’ pockets. It’s a disgrace towards the sport and the millions of people who are passionate about football.