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New Super League declares war on UEFA

With a new name, the initiators of the Super League project are intensifying their efforts to establish a competition to rival the European Football Cup. On Tuesday, the sports project developer A22 sent a proposal to the European Football Union UEFA and the world governing body FIFA for the recognition of new "pan-European club football competitions", the Unify League. 

A22 had repeatedly encountered "fierce resistance". The letter addressed to UEFA General Secretary Theodore Theodoridis states that this does not fit in with the fact that UEFA must be "open, transparent and free from conflicts of interest at all times". The sports project developer refers to the ruling of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) from last year.

The ECJ ruled that UEFA and FIFA may not make other competitions dependent on their approval. They may not prohibit clubs and players from participating in these competitions. However, this does not necessarily mean that a new competition must always be approved.

Changes compared to the Super League idea
The proposal for a Unify League contains numerous changes compared to that for a Super League, such as the fact that the ranking in the national leagues should be decisive for participation in the European competitions. Another key point is the creation of a streaming platform on which all matches in the new competitions will be available to watch free of charge.

"Our close collaboration with key stakeholders has highlighted urgent issues that need to be addressed: rising subscription costs for fans, an overcrowded match calendar, underinvestment in women's soccer and dissatisfaction with the format and governance of European club competitions," said A22 CEO Bernd Reichart. "Our proposal aims to tackle these challenges head on."

The Super League plans have recently met with repeated public opposition. The main point of criticism in recent years has been that a closed competition for already large clubs would be established, which would also harm the national leagues.