November 9 – The backlash from yesterday’s meeting between European Super League promoters A22 Sports, UEFA and European football stakeholders has continued with both the European Club Association (ECA) and a number of LaLiga clubs unequivocally coming out against the A22 plan.
In a statement the ECA said: “Following the end of the 2.5 hour meeting, ECA remains steadfastly opposed to the creation of any new so-called super league or breakaway project. ECA was firmly against such concepts in April 2021; the same remains true in 2022…”
“Progressive reform is a constant process, which we are pressing for every day. As the voice of the clubs, ECA is at the heart of shaping that reform and believes that change is best conducted from within the current structure, rather than through the creation of an elitist breakaway league or un-representative commercial PR entity.”
Javier Solís, Corporate Director of Valencia CF said:“The Super League concept goes against one of the fundamental principles of the sport and against the competitive narrative that we have known until now. This model flatly rejects the will to want to reach, improve, challenge the most powerful clubs and conquer the highest peaks. That is a fundamental component in the sport and it is also something that has been very present in the DNA of Valencia CF throughout history”.
“Our sector must continue to evolve, seek new sources of income and adapt to new forms of consumption, but the Super League is not the solution for football. The clubs that are behind this format are precisely those that have contributed the most to generating a situation of inflation in the industry. They present it as an economic solution for themselves, but at the cost of the impoverishment of others”.
Luis Sabalza, president of CA Osasuna emphasised that the move towards a more equitable distribution of income was the way forward, saying “this the only way to improve the competitiveness and attractiveness of competitions and, consequently, their value. The Super League is going in the opposite direction and that is why it will fail.”
Fernando Roig, president of Villarreal CF, whose club have competed four times in the Champions League, said that being able to dream of achieveing major goals is part of the beauty of the game.
“That there is a certain imposition and that sports merits are not taken into account, is to go against the very essence of sport and, ultimately, to absolute failure. We are absolutely against the creation of the Super League,”he said.
All stakeholders have to date stood firmly behind the European sports model of meritocracy that the A22 plan is seeking to break.
Concluding its statement the ECA said it “will continue to work with all European football stakeholders in a true spirit of collaboration committed to the European Sports Model, remaining true to European football’s traditions of openness, transparency, solidarity; and where sporting success is measured and gained by the results on the pitch and constructive collaboration and progressive reform off the pitch.”
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