April 26 – The World Leagues Forum (WLF), which represents more than 40 professional league worldwide, has issued a statement calling for leagues to be better represented in football governance in the wake of the breakaway European Super League (ESL) furore.
Meeting last Friday, the WLF board – whose members include the Premier League, LFP, DFL, Serie A, LaLiga, Russian Premier League, Premier League Soccer (South Africa), ProLiga (Ecuador), Major League Soccer, Liga MX, J.League and the Professional Saudi League (Saudi Arabia) – said it “unanimously rejects the super league concept”.
Highlighting the football stakeholder and public backlash against the ESL, the WLF said that international bodies had focussed too much on “super elite competitions” over the past 20 years and the subsequent “exponential growth of a few clubs against the interest and balance of domestic competitions, where most clubs are playing.”
The WLF said that focus must now be returned to supporting and defending local leagues and the thousands of clubs playing every weekend.
Highlighting four points, the WLF statement said:
“The World Leagues Forum not only rejects the super league concept, but also requests better representation of the leagues in football governance. This is the consequence of the lessons which can be drawn from this week’s events:
“One: The European super league project reflected the money-driven vision a small group of already super rich clubs. This vision has been rejected by everyone in football and outside football. But most importantly, it has been rejected by the fans. It has shown that sport values such as sporting merit and solidarity must always prevail.
“Two: Any international competition where some clubs would have a permanent right to play without qualifying from domestic leagues is a terrible idea. Not only it disregards the values of sport, but it neglects the importance of domestic competitions from an historical, an economic, and from a fan perspective.
“Three: International governing bodies have focused over the last twenty years on super elite competitions. The outcome has been the exponential growth of a few clubs against the interest and balance of domestic competitions, where most clubs are playing. This focus must change and now be on developing domestic competitions.
“Four: Thousands of clubs are playing in domestic leagues every week-end. To defend the interests of these many clubs, the World Leagues Forum have been working with its members and advocating their concerns to international governing bodies. But to develop a sound and balanced governance, future decisions that affect domestic leagues shall not be made without their approval.
“The World Leagues Forum asks all football bodies, clubs, players and stakeholders to reflect on these learnings in order to shape, together, tomorrow’s football.”
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