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European Super League: City<br />
withdraw, Chelsea follow<br />
Manchester City have with<br />
drawn from the European<br />
Super League (ESL) and<br />
Chelsea are also preparing to do so.<br />
Efforts to leave come just two days<br />
after both were announced as two of<br />
six English clubs to sign up to the controversial<br />
new competition.<br />
The ESL has been widely criticised<br />
since being announced on Sunday.<br />
Around 1,000 fans gathered outside<br />
Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge home<br />
ground before their game against<br />
Brighton yesterday to protest their involvement.<br />
Chelsea and City were part of English<br />
football’s ‘big six’ clubs - alongside<br />
Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester<br />
United and Tottenham - to have agreed<br />
to join the new league.<br />
In total, 12 European clubs announced<br />
their intentions to form the<br />
breakaway league, which they hoped<br />
to establish as a new midweek competition.<br />
It was condemned by football authorities<br />
and government ministers in<br />
the UK and across Europe by Uefa and<br />
leagues associations.<br />
Chelsea were the first club to indi-<br />
cate they will not press ahead by preparing<br />
documentation to withdrawn.<br />
City withdrew soon after.<br />
Chelsea and City were not drivers<br />
of this plan, they were the last to sign<br />
and feared being left behind.<br />
It is not clear how easy it is or how<br />
binding the contracts are.<br />
The decision to try have Chelsea<br />
leave was taken by owner Roman<br />
Abramovich and the club’s board after<br />
witnessing negative global reaction<br />
to the Super League.<br />
The decision was made earlier on<br />
Tuesday before protests started outside<br />
Stamford Bridge.<br />
President of the Nigeria Football<br />
Federation, Amaju Pinnick has<br />
kicked against the setting up of the<br />
European Super League by 12 clubs,<br />
comprising Premier League big six<br />
clubs, Manchester United, Liverpool,<br />
Arsenal, Tottenham, Chelsea and Manchester<br />
City. Reacting to the development,<br />
Pinnick, who is a FIFA Council<br />
The World and European soccer<br />
bodies, FIFA and UEFA, must<br />
not prevent 12 of the continent’s leading<br />
clubs from creating a breakaway<br />
Super League, a Spanish commercial<br />
court has said in a preliminary ruling.<br />
FIFA and UEFA made no immediate<br />
comment about the case, which is<br />
likely to mark the start of a prolonged<br />
legal fight over the proposed league,<br />
which threatens to upend the longestablished<br />
order of elite soccer in Europe.<br />
It was not immediately clear what<br />
authority the Madrid court, which adjudicates<br />
corporate disputes, had over<br />
the Swiss-based soccer bodies.<br />
The court said in a ruling seen by<br />
Reuters that FIFA, UEFA and all its<br />
associated soccer federations must not<br />
adopt “any measure that prohibits, restricts,<br />
limits or conditions in any way”<br />
the creation of the Super League.<br />
It also warned them not to sanction<br />
any players or managers taking part.<br />
Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 21, 2021 — 29<br />
Spain court tells FIFA, UEFA<br />
don’t stop SL<br />
The Super League project is headed<br />
by Real Madrid president Florentino<br />
Perez, and the company that has been<br />
set up to the run the competition is<br />
based in Madrid.<br />
The company applied to the Spanish<br />
court for an injunction to prevent<br />
soccer regulators from taking any action<br />
against its new league.<br />
The judge slapped a preliminary<br />
block on FIFA and UEFA at least for<br />
the duration of the legal proceedings,<br />
which can take many months in Spain.<br />
The court intervention came after<br />
both UEFA and FIFA warned they<br />
PA News Agency has also reported<br />
that Atletico Madrid are also set<br />
to leave, while Barcelona chief Joan<br />
Laporta has confirmed that they too<br />
won’t be joining unless their socios vote<br />
for it – and it’s safe to say they will not.<br />
Pressure on Milan to pull out<br />
The Super League was an<br />
nounced late on Sunday<br />
evening but it seems it might be<br />
thing of the past already, as several<br />
of the founding clubs are now ready<br />
to leave. In other words, the backlash<br />
from the fans is starting to show.<br />
Milan, along with 11 other teams,<br />
are considered as one of the founders<br />
of the Super League and CEO<br />
Ivan Gazidis praised the concept<br />
Pinnick stands with FIFA, UEFA<br />
against Super League<br />
member, carpeted the forming of the<br />
European Super League as a betrayal<br />
of trust to the fans of the game.<br />
Pinnick’s view aligns with that of<br />
FIFA, UEFA and majority of fans and<br />
stakeholders, who have vehemently<br />
criticized the forming of the ESL as<br />
not serving the interest of football and<br />
its fans.<br />
would impose sanctions on clubs and<br />
players competing in the new league,<br />
which has been set up as a rival to<br />
European soccer body UEFA’s established<br />
Champions League.<br />
Barca, Atletico Madrid to<br />
withdraw<br />
just a few hours ago. However, as a<br />
result of heavy criticism, several<br />
clubs are now ready to back out.<br />
According to Daily Telegraph’s<br />
Matt Law, following the protests by<br />
the fans this evening, Chelsea are<br />
preparing the legal documents to<br />
withdraw from the Super League.<br />
The same goes for Man City, as was<br />
revealed by BBC’s Dan Roan.<br />
It doesn’t end there, however, as<br />
Ben Jacobs is reporting that Atletico<br />
Madrid will drop out of the competition<br />
as well. Meanwhile, Barcelona<br />
will leave the decision to their socios<br />
(their supporters), according to<br />
president Joan Laporta (via tv3cat).<br />
The pressure is mounting on Milan,<br />
in other words, and according<br />
to TalkSport there will be a meeting<br />
between all of the Super League<br />
clubs tonight. They will discuss disbanding<br />
the competition, per the report.<br />
*Infantino,<br />
FIFA boss<br />
Hopefully these U-turn will continue<br />
the domino effect and see this<br />
European Super League halted before<br />
it’s even begun – although I suspect<br />
it’s already all but over just 48<br />
hours on from it being announced!<br />
PSG, Bayern, Borussia Dortmund,<br />
Porto and Ajax all refusing to join sent<br />
out a clear enough message, but it’s<br />
extremely damning and a huge win<br />
for football that FOUR of the 12 founding<br />
members look set to pull out.<br />
How much longer can the powerhungry<br />
billionaires behind this continue<br />
to push when the walls are caving<br />
in around them?<br />
Let’s hope this is the first step of getting<br />
our game back!<br />
Ed Wood resigns as<br />
Man Utd chairman<br />
ED WOODWARD has sensa<br />
tionally resigned as Man Utd<br />
executive vice-chairman with the European<br />
Super League project looking<br />
doomed.<br />
Just days after confirming United<br />
were part of the 12-club breakaway,<br />
Chelsea and Man City have already<br />
withdrawn to leave the proposal in<br />
tatters.<br />
Club legends Sir Alex Ferguson<br />
and David Beckham had earlier<br />
come out and slammed the ESL<br />
plans.
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