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A proposal for a new soccer summer tournament isn’t a direct challenge to the Champions League, but the suggestion alone caused European football powers to respond.
Yesterday, FIFA, UEFA and the other five global soccer federations announced a joint agreement that any potential breakaway competition would not be recognized as legitimate.
The idea of the new competition, which has been rumored for decades, gained steam last summer when some of the world’s elite clubs — including Real Madrid, Manchester United and Liverpool — teamed up on the possibility of creating a European Super League.
An 18-page document outlines the League’s proposed format:
- Qualifying games would be played in the middle of the week.
- 15 top clubs would serve as permanent members, with five franchises from domestic leagues qualifying annually.
- The clubs would be split into two groups of 10, with the top four teams in each group qualifying for the knockout stages.
The championship round would take place on a weekend and generate hundreds of millions of dollars in additional revenue for the participating teams.
FIFA warned that players involved in any breakaway league would be banned from its tournaments, including the World Cup.
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