European Super League: Football’s end as we know it

In a frantic few hours for the footballing world, shots are being fired from either side of the fence. At one end, a Florentino Perez-led movement has resulted in a league of 15 founding teams and five annual qualifiers from all over Europe to replace the established UEFA Champions League. Whereas, on the other hand, UEFA, FIFA, FA, and the federations have made multiple sanction-threatening remarks on the formation of the new league.

The newly-formed European Super League, until now, is slated to host Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham Hostpur, Chelsea, AC Milan, Inter Milan, and Juventus.

While the idea of 20 top teams fighting against each other in mid-weeks sounds noble, there is more to it than what catches the eye. The currently ongoing UEFA Champions League embraces a format of participation based on the performance in the previous season’s domestic competitions. However, the new format establishes a concrete foothold of 15 teams in the crème de la crème of football.

UEFA and FIFA have threatened to ban the ESL teams and players from representing their national teams and participating in the domestic leagues. However, the chairman of ESL, Florentino Perez, has taken an unwavering stand and said, “We will help football at every level and take it to its rightful place in the world. Football is the only global sport in the world with more than four billion fans.”

Social media platforms, since the announcement, have been flooded with hashtags from opposing fans. Samarthya Purohit, a Chelsea fan from Vadodara, while condemning the ESL, said, “ESL will be to Premier League, what Premier League is to the FA Cup. The A-listers will play their strongest squads in mid-week, while the age-old coveted domestic leagues will completely go for a toss.” Additionally, he believes that if ESL is brought to fruition, the smaller teams will lose all significance in the larger scheme of things.

Perez, in defense of ESL, said that it is their responsibility as big clubs to respond to the fans’ desires. Vedant Shah, an avid Arsenal fan and a student of the National Academy of Sports Management, begs to differ, “A team like Arsenal has achieved no great feat in the last ten years and sits uncomfortably on the ninth position in the table right now. Despite being undeserving, Arsenal will have an all-access pass to the big league.” “The new league is only a proposal to monopolize football into a few hands and make exorbitant profits out of the game,” he added.

With federations threatening to ban teams from domestic leagues, the domestic leagues are likely to lose heavy viewership. This would mean a loss in relevance for more than 60 teams and hundreds of players from Europe’s top leagues.

Last night at 12:30, a 15th-placed-side Getafe held 2nd-placed Real Madrid to a draw. The story of football is not one of money and power; it is of underdogs’ triumphs week in and week out. With an elite line-up of teams, the scope for the likes of heroics from Leicester becomes naught.

ESL is being reprimanded as the ‘death of football’, ‘a game for the riches’, ‘a war on football’, ‘a disgrace, an embarrassment, and everything that goes against football’. The entire world of football has gone into a frenzy. Reports of players being unhappy and managers being sacked have surfaced on the internet. After unanimous backlash from the football community, it is left for the founders of ESL to take back their decision and actually “respond to the fans’ desires”.

-Written By
Shlok Talati