Following the ruling from the Court of Justice of the European Union which paved the way for the creation of the European Super League in the future, A22 Sports Management, the company behind the project, has proposed a new, revamped format for the competition.
The Super League project faced serious backlash when announced back in 2021, when it was designed to be a closed tournament with only 20 top teams from across Europe.
Ten of the 12 founding clubs backed out from the project, with Barcelona and Real Madrid standing as the only two teams still backing the competition.
New format in place
Now with the ECJ ruling providing them with the scope for launching the tournament in the place, the Super League has proposed an entirely new, rejigged format to ensure that the criticisms of it being closed for only the big clubs are done away with.
Apart from proposing an open tournament with 64 teams, the Super League also promised to provide fans free access to the broadcast of the matches on their streaming service, while also revealing plans for a Women’s Super League tournament as well.
What’s the new format?
As mentioned earlier, the new Super League would constitute of 64 participating teams, divided into three leagues: Star (top-tier), Gold (second-tier), and Blue (bottom-tier).
The top two divisions, i.e., Star and Gold, would have 16 teams each in two groups of eight, whereas the Blue tier would be made of 32 teams in four groups of eight.
The competition will consist of two stages: League and Knockouts. The group/league stage will be played between September and April. Each team will play 14 matches: seven home and seven away.
Our proposed new men’s ESL competition is a league structure based on a true pan-European pyramid: It will consist of 64 participating clubs in three tiers. Watch the video to learn more about the key elements. #BetterForFootball pic.twitter.com/yHfhVaPTFt
— A22 Sports (@A22Sports) December 21, 2023
Then, the top eight teams from each league will play the knockout rounds, starting with the quarter-finals, over two legs (home and away). The final will be played over one match at a neutral venue.
Furthermore, the two worst teams from the Star League will be relegated to the Gold League, and the two best teams from there will be promoted to the top tier. The same applies to the Gold and Blue Leagues.
In the Blue League, the 20 worst-performing teams out of the 32 clubs would leave the competition. They will be replaced by other teams, depending on their performance in the domestic leagues.
The matches would take place in midweek, so that the competition is compatible with the national domestic leagues. As such, it would essentially rival the UEFA competitions – the Champions League, Europa League, and Conference League.
What has been the reaction so far?
As one would expect, there has been a lot of negative reaction surrounding the Super League following the ruling that emerged today.
The likes of Barcelona and Real Madrid have welcomed the ruling, whereas UEFA, FIFA, and the ECA have spoken out in opposition to the project.
La Liga, too, have voiced their opposition, with president Javier Tebas even mocking that it would end up becoming a bilateral tournament between Barcelona and Madrid.
Clubs like Atletico Madrid and Manchester United, who were part of the initial Super League project, have rejected it, as have Bayern Munich, along with a number of other teams from Spain.
The Bundesliga and Ligue 1 have also issued statements rejecting the Super League, although some teams from France are understood to be open to the idea. Teams from the Turkish Super Lig would also be open to the project.
