Although the football world is currently excited about the EURO Championship, a few weeks ago it was shaken by the announcement of twelve big European clubs about the creation of so-called Super League, which would radically change football as we know it on our continent. It took about 72 hours from the announcement of the project to its failed end, and the whole project provoked as many reactions as the sports world has not experienced for a long time. But what was the main reason for the failure of the Super League and does a similar concept have a chance in Europe?
The system of football in Europe is based on the principle of promotion and relegation. However, the basic idea of the Super League was to create some kind of "semi-closed" league, in which 15 clubs, including the founding ones, would have a certain place and the remaining 5 clubs would have to qualify to participate in the competition. The football community then did not learn more details about the project when the entire presentation and marketing were built on a simple website, an instagram account without any content and the only interview was given by the Super League director Fernando Peréz the next day after the Super League was announced.
If the Super League would became reality, the traditional system would be dismantled and three-quarters of the participating clubs would have the certainty of their participation in the following season. The main reasons of the formation of Super League which were presented to the public were among the other thins the long-standing position of large clubs to the competitions organised by UEFA, namely the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League, and the associated solidarity payments through which are being distributed the funds to clubs that do not achieve the top results and do not move to the top of the scoreboard. The financial aspect was definitely one of the driving forces behind the attempt of replacing the current system, as 11 of the 14 richest clubs in the world were also the founding members of the Super League. [1] This is related to the financial culture of European football, which I will discuss in more detail in the following paragraphs of this article.
One of the strongest opponents of the Super League were definitely the fans. However, both the coaches and the players themselves commented negatively on, among the other things, the fact that they were not invited to the negotiating table when creating the new project. Moreover, both FIFA and UEFA threatened to the players with the ban from participating in any competition under the auspices of both organizations in the case they would participate in Super League which would cause their ineligibility to represent their countries within the national teams. Apart from the fact that it's discutable whether these sanctions would be in the jurisdiction of FIFA and UEFA at all, looking at the football frenzy caused by the ongoing EURO, I cannot imagine players being willing to take such a step and risk.
The above mentioned ignorance of the rest of the football stakeholders, including both players and fans were, in my view, a stumbling block and one of the most important factors that caused the rapid end of the Super League. Fans feeling that the clubs take them for granted and the fear of something new that strongly contradicts the current European football culture have resulted in several protests during which the vast majority of fans showed how they approach the new project. Moreover, this concept would not only cost the fans more money, when they would have to travel more often to foreign countries, but would also lose the uniqueness of the moment when the best clubs from the European leagues play against each other which we experience during UEFA competitions, whether during the Europa League or the Champions League.
Another problem, in my opinion, was the role of the victim that the founding clubs were putting themselves in regarding the financial situation caused by the ongoing pandemic. It is clear that this sudden loss of income has not only affected big clubs which are operating with large amounts of money but the entire football world, including the small clubs, which suffer as much, if not more, as clubs at the top of the table, especially due to zero ticket income and lower income from other sources. Moreover from my point of view, as I mentioned above, with the departure of the best clubs from UEFA competitions, the functioning of UEFA's solidarity payments would change which would undoubtedly gave a great financial impact on other clubs.
When it comes to financial football culture in Europe, it is not a secret that football clubs spend huge amounts of money in order to achieve the best possible results. Currently we are in the middle of the summer transfer window and news about the transfers of the players for hundreds of million euros are appearing in media every day which are amounts which are difficult for an ordinary mortal just to imagine. Given that all high-level clubs are in debt, it is impossible to not to dwell on how long this model can last.
In addition, as I mentioned at the beginning of this article, the Super League was supposed to take place in a kind of "semi-closed model" . When we compare the European nad American models - in which closed leagues are commonplace, most of the American competitions have set financial caps on the amounts that the clubs can spend during the season. Although I cannot say this for sure, as there was published minimum information on the practical functioning of the league, I am not convinced that the founding clubs would be willing to adapt such a model. Another difference between the European and American models are the so-called "drafts", which allow clubs to get the best players from the university environment, while the right to choose first belongs to the club that finished last the previous season. The American model has is in my opinion generally more solidarity and the clubs are in a much more balanced position, which proves the diversity in connection with the winners of the leagues. European clubs, on the other hand, in an effort to win a title or avoid a relegation, spend considerable resources which many times they do not even have when taking a look at their financial balance and the diversity within the champions is significantly lower.
However, from my point of view, I believe that if the clubs at the top of the table had more limited options and the financial gap with the other clubs would be reduced and a the same time they would not have to spend all their resources trying to achieve the best possible results, it could help the situation more than separating the "worse" from the "better". Formula 1, for example, has taken a similar step at the moment, when the financial caps for the construction of racing cars will be set from next season so we can look forward to more balanced fights.
So the question is - can we expect in the nearest future a creation of the league that would resemble Super League in its concept? In my opinion, it is first necessary to heal the wounds that arose in connection with the last attempt to create it. At the same time, I believe that that this attempt was definitely not the last and that over time we will see changes that will replace the concept of European football as we know it today. However, the main founders should not forget to discuss and involve other stakeholders so that the whole competition lasts longer than the short-lived Super League.