Chelsea and Manchester City have decided to start withdrawing from the proposed European Super League, ESPN sources confirm.
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The turnaround is a stunning turnaround for the two English Premier League clubs following Sunday’s announcement that they were among the 12 greatest football teams in Europe planning to break out of the UEFA Champions League.
The Chelsea news was first reported by the BBC and confirmed by ESPN’s James Olley, while The Sun first made mention of Manchester City, which was confirmed by ESPN’s Rob Dawson. Neither side has officially commented on the decision.
Those 12 clubs – Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United, Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, AC Milan, Inter Milan and Juventus – have pushed for the ESL to provide more financial support to the football pyramid. with a planned € 10 billion in solidarity payments to non-participating clubs, to be spread over an initial period of 23 years.
The Super League organizers, led by Real Madrid president Florentino Perez, had said they hoped to add three more founders before launching their match “as soon as possible”.
The developments came before Chelsea’s Premier League match against Brighton on Tuesday at Stamford Bridge. A group of Chelsea players took to chairman Bruce Buck to say they were against the proposed competition, sources told Olley.
Several hundred fans gathered outside Stamford Bridge hours before kick-off to express their opposition to the club’s plan to sign up for the new league.
Technical and performance director Petr Cech was seen on camera, begging supporters to let the team bus take to the field as fans blocked their access to the stadium.
The news then spread that the Blues were drafting documentation to reverse their decision to participate, sparking cheers and chants of “We saved football” from the fans who were about 300 meters from the main entrance. the stadium.
Meanwhile, in Spain, Barcelona’s entry into a new league would be conditional on members of the Liga club voting in favor of the proposal, ESPN Deportes and Spanish media said.
Catalan television station TV3 reported that the contract Barça president Joan Laporta signed with the other 11 founding clubs included a clause allowing the club to withdraw from the agreement if members disagreed.
The report added that Laporta met with Barcelona manager Ronald Koeman on Tuesday to explain the club’s position in the Super League and has agreed to speak with club captains Lionel Messi, Gerard Pique, Sergio Busquets and Sergi Roberto on Wednesday.
Barcelona was not immediately available to comment.
Unlike the Champions League competition, where teams must qualify through their national league, the founding Super League teams would guarantee themselves a place in the new league every year.
UEFA has warned it could impose sanctions on clubs and players participating in the breakaway league, and has also raised concerns from public figures such as British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, French President Emmanuel Macron and Pope Francis.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino told the 12 breakaway European Super League clubs on Tuesday that they could not be “half in, half out” of the established football system and face the reality of their decision.
A number of top players under contracts with those six Premier League clubs had expressed concerns about UEFA’s threat to ban them from playing for their country in international tournaments, including the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.