Will a 'Super League' blow up global soccer? Here's what we know after bombshell announcement



Twelve top European soccer clubs on Sunday announced that they have "agreed to establish" a "Super League," a new elite competition that could blow up the professional structure of the world's most popular sport.

Here's what we know about the Super League, the ramifications of the announcement, and what comes next

Who's in the new league?

Twelve clubs have signed on:

Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham from England

Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid from Spain

Juventus, Inter Milan and AC Milan from Italy

In their statement, those 12 clubs said that "it is anticipated that a further three clubs will join ahead of the inaugural season, which is intended to commence as soon as practicable." Those three clubs are very likely Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and Paris Saint-Germain.

Five others would then join those 15 "founders" on a rotating, annual basis, to form a 20-team league each season.

Why aren't Bayern Munich and PSG involved yet?

Bayern and Dortmund have reportedly resisted the plan. PSG - whose Qatari president, Nasser al-Khelaifi, has ties to UEFA and beIN Sports, a Champions League broadcaster - has also refused to commit just yet.

But if the Super League materializes, those clubs would have overwhelming incentives to join.

What's the format of the new league?

The founders' proposal is:

Split the 20-team league into two groups of 10.

Teams play two games - one home, one away - against each group opponent.

The top three in each group advance to the knockout stages, which begin with quarterfinals. Teams placed fourth and fifth go to a playoff for the final two spots.

The games would be played on weekday nights, essentially replacing the current Champions League, and allowing clubs to remain in their domestic leagues - the Premier League, Serie A, etc.

But that, for several reasons, seems unfeasible.

Would clubs leave the Premier League, La Liga, etc.?

That isn't part of their reported plans. In their announcement, they said clubs would "continue to compete in their respective national leagues."

But UEFA, the European soccer governing body, in concert with soccer governing bodies and top leagues in England, Italy and Spain, said Sunday that "the clubs concerned will be banned from playing in any other competition at domestic, European or world level."

English Premier League CEO Richard Masters wrote in a letter to clubs that they'd need EPL permission to join a Super League, and "I cannot envisage any scenario where such permission would be granted."

In other words, if Manchester United joins the Super League, even if it doesn't plan to leave the EPL, it'd be kicked out of the EPL.

So if this Super League is going to happen, it's going to replace both the Champions League and the domestic leagues. It'd have to be a true breakaway.

Are FIFA and UEFA on board with this plan?
No. They hate it. The governing bodies for global soccer and European soccer, respectively, have long fought the breakaway league concept. The president of UEFA, Aleksander Ceferin, is reportedly furious. Others are "apoplectic." La Liga president Javier Tebas ripped the Super League schemers, saying they were "intoxicated with selfishness and a lack of solidarity."

What could FIFA or UEFA do to stop it?

UEFA, along with the national leagues and governing bodies, released a statement Sunday saying that they "will remain united in our efforts to stop this cynical project."

"We will consider all measures available to us, at all levels, both judicial and sporting in order to prevent this happening," they said.

Perhaps their most powerful lever is that FIFA and UEFA control the world's most important international soccer competitions, the World Cup and the Euros. FIFA has said that it would not recognize a breakaway Super League, and that "any club or player involved in such a competition would as a consequence not be allowed to participate in any competition organized by FIFA or their respective confederation" - meaning the World Cup, the Euros, Copa America, and so on.

In other words, any club that joins a Super League would be forcing its players to leave their national teams, and to potentially miss out on the biggest sporting event on the planet. Or at least that's the threat. It's unclear whether FIFA would actually follow through with the threat. FIFA has so far been silent on Sunday while UEFA and others have condemned the plans.

Either way, there will be extensive legal battles over the Super League. Politicians and governments will get involved. Sunday's announcement does not necessarily mean a Super League will happen. But this is the loudest, clearest, most serious step yet in that direction.

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