Soccer Football - Interview with european sports development company A22 CEO Bernd Reichart - Madrid, Spain - December 21, 2023 European sports development company A22 CEO Bernd Reichart during an interview after the European Court of Justice ruled that UEFA and FIFA acted against competition law by blocking the formation of the European Super League REUTERS/Susana Vera/ File Photo
LONDON (Reuters) - The promoters of a proposed European Super League have called on UEFA and FIFA to recognise their new competition, which they relaunched on Tuesday as the Unify League.
It is the latest attempt by A22 to get the competition off the ground after the original European Super League (ESL), backed by 12 of the continent's biggest clubs, was controversially launched in 2021 only for support to collapse.
Unlike the original plans which guaranteed the 12 clubs a place in the ESL, A22 says the new 96-club format across four leagues would be merit-based and more competitive than UEFA's current club competitions.
It also promised free streaming for fans on its own advertising-backed platform and a return to the home and away format ditched in the revamped Champions League group phase.
"A key feature is a revised qualification system in which club participation is based on annual, domestic league performance," A22 said in a statement on Tuesday outlining plans for the midweek competition.
A22 CEO Bernd Reichart said the proposed new competition would help address challenges in soccer such as rising subscription costs for fans, insufficient investment in women's football and dissatisfaction with the format and governance of the current pan-European competitions.
"We are convinced that with our format being meritocratic and being compatible with the calendar we have the right to establish such a competition, talk to clubs and start implementing it," Reichart told Reuters in Madrid on Tuesday.
The European Court of Justice ruled last December that European governing body UEFA had abused its dominant position in blocking the initial plans for the competition in 2021.
UEFA threatened sanctions against any clubs joining a breakaway league and a fierce backlash by fans meant nine of the original 12, including all six Premier League clubs, pulled out.
"Back then it was framed as a closed shop breakaway league, which it never was, but that was the narrative that probably caused and created the biggest arguments against the initiative over the course of the last years," Reichart said.
"We listened, we heard, we adopted our proposal. It's an open, meritocratic system that is accessible to everybody."
The new format, which has no definite start date, would comprise 32 clubs split into a Star and Gold League, 32 in a Blue League and 32 in a Union League.
Group matches would run from September to April followed by an eight-club knockout phase.
While last year's ECJ ruling, and a similar one by a Spanish court in May, did not lead to a rush of clubs wanting to be involved in the new competition, Reichart said that it had given them confidence to re-engage with the plan.
UEFA insisted that rules it brought in since the initial ESL launch ensured it now complied with EU law.
While Real Madrid, who did not pull out of the original ESL proposal, are closely aligned with A22, Reichart did not reveal the names of any other clubs that are on board.
However, he said the new format could now be pitched to clubs who are "eager to move on and to make their business and their relationship with their fans across the world future-proof and sustainable."
Spain's LaLiga quickly rejected A22's attempt to resurrect the new competition, saying it would serve an 'elitist few' and 'destroy the economy of national leagues'.
"The project continues to lack support from clubs, federations, players, fans, national governments and European institutions," LaLiga said in a statement.
(Reporting by Fernando Kallas in Madrid, writing by Martyn Herman in London; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
