Free viewing for fans at heart of European Super League, says A22

Sports development company A22, which was formed to assist with creating soccer’s European Super League, proposed a new competition on Thursday with 64 men’s and 32 women’s teams playing midweek matches in a league system across Europe.

During a presentation aired on YouTube, A22 CEO Bernd Reichart declined to name any clubs that could become part of the new league but said fans would be able to watch matches free of charge on a fan-centric streaming platform.

The proposal was announced soon after the European Court of Justice said soccer ruling bodies UEFA and FIFA had contravened EU law by preventing the formation of a Super League which was unveiled in 2021.

“This vision is based on extensive consultation with a wide range of football stakeholders across Europe and built on our core principles including participation based on sporting merit (and) no permanent members,” A22 said in a statement.

“Participating clubs stay in their domestic leagues which remain the foundation of European football.

“Now that clubs can determine their own future at European level, we look forward to further engagement with a broad set of football stakeholders to achieve the objective of all great sporting competitions.”

The Super League competition would threaten UEFA’s major club competitions, including its flagship Champions League.

The proposed format for the men’s competition includes 64 teams in three leagues — Star, Gold and Blue. The Star and Gold Leagues will have 16 clubs each while the Blue League has 32 clubs.

Teams will play home and away in groups of eight, which would mean a minimum of 14 matches a year. There will be annual promotion and relegation between leagues while teams can qualify for the Blue League based on domestic league performance.

The women’s competition would have two leagues of 16 clubs each.

CLUBS INVOLVED

Reichart said that clubs would be invited to shape the new competition.

“Our proposal has to be convincing and we invite clubs to shape and to help shape this proposal,” he said.

“We want to reach as many clubs as possible to shape and to contribute. There are clubs who are really interested in our proposal and to learn more and to contribute.”

Outlining plans to show the matches free of charge, Reichart said viewing Champions League matches had become prohibitively expensive.

“(Our proposals) are a fan-centric platform that brings together clubs and fans like never before,” he said.

“Investors will back us on the development and the launch of the platform and this is why we are reaching out to safeguard this vision that we share.

“This is a unique opportunity to rethink how football is presented to the fans.”

The previous attempt to launch a new league was met with fierce resistance and all six of the English Premier League clubs involved subsequently pulled out.

Reichart said the new proposals were not a threat to national leagues and that they were designed to unite clubs and avoid confrontation.

“It’s open, it’s meritocratic, it’s accessible,” he said. “The right to dream is alive as it probably has never been alive before. So solidarity, openness, and meritocracy are cornerstones of our proposal.”

Reichart said the new league would allow more clubs to compete in Europe.

“At the moment clubs can perform extremely well at the European level, yet still not be in the same competition the subsequent year,” he said. “This is viewed as unfair and not consistent with the concept of sporting merit.”

(Reuters)