Perez: Nobody has left the Super League

Real Madrid president Florentino Perez, the mastermind behind the Super League project reminded everyone that the 12 clubs have signed a binding contract with the new organization and that the brief media statements and apologies won’t change that. The contracts were made, the teams are in the Super League and the ESL will proceed one way or the other.

"I’m not going to take my time to explain what a binding contract is here. But the fact is, the clubs can’t leave. Some, because of the pressure, have had to say they’ll leave. But this project, or something very similar, will happen, and I hope it’s in the near future. We’ve been working on this project for three years and we’ve studied it in detail. The project is designed to bring back the interest of the fans, and that will bring in more money for everyone: big clubs, medium clubs and small clubs."

Friday brought a statement from the JP Morgan investment fund that they will be abandoning the ESL. Speaking to Spanish newspaper AS, Florentino Perez denied the news.

"That’s not true, they haven’t left either. They’ve taken time to reflect, like the 12 clubs. If something needs to be changed, it’ll be changed, but the Super League is the best project we’ve thought can be carried out. What we need to do is get the fans back, the youngsters. And to do that, changes have to be made. If UEFA want to do it with the project they announced the other day, well the truth is I didn’t understand it nor do I think it would be a good solution. What’s more, they want to start in 2024, and we’ll see which teams push back."

ESL distribution of wealth - Spanish giants would get substantially more than the rest of the teams?

In his attempt to explain the reasoning behind the new competition, Perez denied claims that domestic leagues are going to be marginalized with the introduction of the ESL and that the competition will be made exclusive and impossible to get unto unless you’ve been invited.

"Neither argument is true, rather, everything has been manipulated. It is not a plan which excludes clubs, nor is it detrimental to other leagues. The Super League project is the best possible solution, and it has been created to help football get out of the crisis. Football is severely damaged because its economy has been ruined and it has to adapt to the new era we are living in. The Super League does not go against domestic competitions and its objective is to ensure that more money is available for all sections of football. The concept is to generate more interest for the games. Nor do I think that the changes which UEFA have made are a real solution to the problem because what has been proposed isn't even an improvement on the current model."

Choose your allegiance, says UEFA President

UEFA are pushing for a new-look Champions League to be introduced in 2024, one that would please the 12 want-away clubs happy. Florentino can’t and won’t wait because Real Madrid and the likes will be in danger unless a new way to generate revenue and attract new generations of fans is introduced.

"We cannot wait until 2024. But in any case, we must have done something badly. We are going to try to turn this around and develop more ideas. Maybe the solution is for the top four teams in every league to play. I don't know, but something needs to be done because today's youth, those between 14 and 24 years of age, are abandoning football because they see it as being boring compared to the other forms of entertainment that they prefer. There are four billion football fans all over the world and half of them are fans of the clubs in the Super League. Football is the only global sport."

The losses are piling up and the Covid-19 pandemic has only sped up the process. The time to act is now, according to the Real Madrid president.

"In the first three months of the pandemic alone last season, the 12 clubs in the Super League reported losses of $800 million. By the end of this season, with the pandemic still ongoing, the losses will be between 2.5 and 3 BILLION dollars."

European Super League is not dead. It’s only resting.