Sunday 18 April 2021: * The Times and New York Times publish cases describing a closed Superliga consisting of twelve “founders”. The plans will be known the day before Uefa is to present a new set-up for the Champions League. * During the day it will be known that the Superliga will include Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea, Tottenham, Liverpool, Arsenal, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atlético Madrid, Inter, Milan and Juventus. * A further three teams will be invited in as permanent members, while five teams will be able to qualify for the tournament, which will start “as soon as possible”. * The clubs will share a pool of around NOK 35 billion, financed by the financial giant JP Morgan. The twelve founders will share a “welcome bonus” of between NOK 2 and 3 billion. * During Sunday afternoon, football fans, especially in England, along with authorities in several countries, reacted against the plans. It is being reported that Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain have refused to join. * Late in the evening, the plans for a closed league are confirmed by the clubs, and it is known that Real Madrid’s president Florentino Pérez and Juventus’ Andrea Agnelli are leading the way as chairman and deputy chairman of the Superliga. 19 April: * Representatives of the Super League clubs begin to leave the European club association ECA, and the management of the Super League take legal action to prevent sanctions from Uefa and Fifa. * Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin condemns the project and speaks of the Superliga as an “exclusive, greedy group”. He says that players in the Superliga clubs will be denied participation in the respective national teams. * The British government says it will do everything to stop the creation of the Super League. * Football fans, coaches and managers in several countries strongly oppose the plans. Football president Terje Svendsen says it will be a breach of solidarity in football. * Liverpool’s Jürgen Klopp, and later several coaching colleagues from the Superliga clubs, say he did not know about the plans, but that he is against the closed league. * Late in the evening on Monday, Florentino Pérez is interviewed on Spanish TV, where he defends the Superliga as necessary to save the finances of the biggest clubs. 20 April: * Everton, who are not part of the Super League, condemn the plans as “arrogant”. * Fifa president Gianni Infantino ends his row with Uefa and condemns the initiative for the creation of the Super League. * There are reports that Chelsea and Manchester City in particular have started to get cold feet. City coach Pep Guardiola expresses anger at a breakaway league where “success is already guaranteed”. * In the afternoon, Chelsea fans gather outside Stamford Bridge before the match against Brighton to protest against the Super League. * Manchester City will be just before 22.30 the first club to officially confirm that they have initiated procedures to withdraw from the Superliga project. * Just before midnight, Arsenal, Tottenham, Manchester United and Liverpool follow. “We made a mistake and we apologize,” Arsenal said in a statement. 21 April: * On the night of Wednesday, Chelsea – the first club to pull the brakes – also confirms that it will not be part of the project. * At the same time, the Superliga comes out with a confirmation that the Superliga – as it was proposed – will not see the light of day. The management states that the plans have not been shelved, but says that the time ahead will be used to “restructure the project”. * Uefa president Ceferin, the British government and a host of other players express relief that the Superliga project has been shelved in its current form. 7 May: * The nine clubs that have withdrawn from the Superliga project are fined the equivalent of five percent of their income after one season of European Cup matches. * Uefa says that an apology from the same clubs has been accepted, and that they are being reintegrated into the organisation. 12 May: * Uefa states that Barcelona, Real Madrid and Juventus are to be investigated for their role in the Superliga plans. The association has instituted a disciplinary case. July 2022: * The three remaining teams – Barcelona, Real Madrid and Juventus – take legal action against Uefa on the basis that they believe the association has created a monopoly that breaches EU competition law. Later, Juventus also withdrew from the Superliga plans. 21 December 2023: * The European Court of Justice concludes that Uefa and Fifa broke EU competition law when they blocked the Superliga plans. (Sources: NTB, The Independent, The Guardian)
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Football president Lise Klaveness fears division after new Superliga plans – news Sport – Sports news, results and broadcasting schedule
