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The European Super League: a case of better the devil you know

A22's latest attempt to revive the ESL comes with no benefit for the fans or clubs, writes JAMES NALTON

FOR A COMPANY that appears to be named after a road, A22 isn’t very good at mapping things out.

A22 Sports is the name of the “sports management” company behind the latest push to form a European Super League, revived last week.

But there was no real roadmap provided for what this new venture would entail.

This latest stab at taking football to its implosive endgame comes with no benefit for football supporters, as could be expected, but also few reasons for clubs to get on board either.

It appeared to rush out its new proposals after a European Court of Justice ruling said that Uefa and Fifa had no right to block the creation of a European Super League in 2021.

“The Fifa and Uefa rules on prior approval of interclub football competitions, such as the Super League, are contrary to EU law,” said the ruling from the court.

“They are contrary to competition law and the freedom to provide services.

“The Fifa and Uefa rules making any new interclub football project subject to their prior approval, such as the Super League, and prohibiting clubs and players from playing in those competitions, are unlawful.”

But the ruling also stated: “That does not mean that a competition such as the Super League project must necessarily be approved.

“The court, having been asked generally about the Fifa and Uefa rules, does not rule on that specific project in its judgment.”

As with the first try, this latest attempt from A22 to push for a new European Super League is likely to meet a dead end.

It won’t even get to the point where a court ruling is required, as the majority of the clubs it needs to get on board have responded with resistance and indifference.

If there had been any build-up at all to this latest Super League proposition, its announcement would have been a damp squib.

Statements from leagues and clubs opposing the latest idea were rolled out gradually.

There were so few concrete plans and so little to attract them in this latest Super League proposition that they likely questioned whether a statement was needed.

Some clubs delayed releasing a statement. It could be suggested that this is because they are keeping their options open, but it’s more likely they didn’t feel there was anything substantial to respond to.

The one thing the proposal does mention is that the men’s competition would include 64 clubs across three leagues.

The names of these leagues, Star, Gold and Blue, sound like they are something a computer game might use when it couldn’t secure a licence to use the official league names.

The idea is that clubs are promoted and relegated between these three levels of the European Super League, with teams entering the lowest of the three leagues based on performance.

Despite the claims of sporting merit, promotion and relegation, it already feels like just another way to lift up the ladder. It is a marketing move rather than a football one.

It is claiming to end a Uefa monopoly, but it would merely replace it with something similar, although we’re still none the wiser as to what A22’s replacement would look like in practice.

Their website is like a sale pitch landing page, where you only find out what you really bought once you already sent the money.

Uefa’s own upcoming changes to the Champions League could themselves be seen as a Super League.

It could also be said that some of Europe’s top leagues already act like Super Leagues, and the commercial and geopolitical characteristics of top-level football see teams increasingly become more like franchises than sports clubs.

It might be a case of better the devil you know, and the new involvement of the European Court of Justice and European Union within this sphere now might lead to reforms of existing set-ups from within.

Whether they will work, or whether they will be good or bad changes, remains to be seen.

But, for now, the road from Eastbourne to Croydon is currently the only A22 worth travelling on.

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