Right now, pretty much every football tournament in the world is regulated and organized by FIFA, the international umbrella organization for association football, fútsal, and beach soccer, through its regional confederations, one for each continent – AFC in Asia, CONCACAF in North America, CONMEBOL in South America, OFC in Australia and Oceania, CAF in Africa, and UEFA in Europe. Everything between the Nigeria Amateur League and the NPFL, and up to the Africa Cup of Nations falls under CAF’s jurisdiction. In Europe, the tournaments have similar structures, with clubs competing in national leagues and promoting to the UEFA Champions League and the Europa League, respectively.
But last Sunday, a dozen of Europe’s highest-profile clubs, in turn, announced a plan that would’ve interfered with the established order of things: the European Super League. And all hell broke loose.
12 major European football teams, including six English Premier League clubs – Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur – decided to form a new league, complementary to the existing national and European leagues, with 20 teams competing with each other. The clubs were hoping to deliver more high-profile matches, a beneficial outcome for the fans of soccer betting online and high-profile, quality football. Most of the matches of the current European competitions are pretty predictable – when one of the ‘big’ teams encounters a smaller one, the outcome is pretty easy to predict. When strong teams with many superstars meet, predicting the outcome becomes harder, making the matches more exciting – and even betting at Betway becomes a completely different experience.
As good as the idea may sound to the clubs involved, the investors behind them, and international fans, it did sound very bad to local fans and UEFA. The fans felt betrayed, claiming that the teams are abandoning them for a bigger payout, while the UEFA has been resistant to the idea of alternative football leagues – out of its jurisdiction – for decades.
The reaction was quick to come from both parties.
English fans considered the idea of a competition from which the founding clubs couldn’t be relegated a decision driven by nothing but greed. The UK government chimed in as well, pointing out that the ESL would damage football as a whole. But the teams didn’t back down – and neither did the fans, voicing their feeling that they’ve been betrayed by their favourite clubs.
UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin condemned the teams’ plans to form their own Super League, calling it ‘disgraceful’ in an interview. Like several times before, he reiterates UEFA’s official position on alternative leagues: those playing in them – clubs and players alike – would be banned from participating in UEFA and FIFA competitions. The UK government also chimes in again, pointing out that it has a wide range of sanctions and measures at hand to prevent this schism from happening.
The pressure from the international fan community, as well as football’s governing bodies, soon puts the first dents into the ESL. Two English clubs, Manchester City and Chelsea, announce their intentions to withdraw – and their example is soon followed by the other major English clubs, and other major names in the world of football also follow suit.
With this, the fate of the ESL is pretty much sealed. The European Super League collapsed in just about three days from when it was first announced.
