Champions League Getting Closer To Disbandment: New Format Includes African Clubs

Football as we know it is getting closer to the collapse and the transition to a system of semi-closed competition. The richest European clubs decided to put all the cards on the table and, led by the ‘now or never‘ principle, put pressure on the establishment of a separate competition that would increase the financial ‘cake’ but would reduce the number of those who would share it at the same table.

Although FIFA refused to talk to representatives of 15 clubs that call themselves the founders of the ‘Super League’, a few days ago, they decided to make a new offer to the governing body of world football, which it will not be able to reject so easily.

FIFA has repeatedly said earlier that anyone who tries to create a separate league outside the continental confederations will be expelled from all competitions and participants will be punished with a life ban from playing football. However, this time, the organization based in Zuerich will have to think twice before they reject the compromise that was thrown at their table, and it will be interesting to see which party will win this ‘battle’. We suggest to the top-rated online casinos to introduce such a bet in their offer, we are sure that passionate football bettors would run to play it.

Related: Top 10 Richest Football Clubs In The World And Their Worth

Main Trump Cards of Richest Clubs in Europe

The advantage of the new offer of ‘Super League’ is that it is more flexible than all previous ones because completely closed competition of European clubs alone is no longer the only option, then because the name of the main sponsor, the exact amount of investment, as well as the profit it would bring – which would be incomparably higher from the Champions League – have been revealed publicly for the first time.

The main trump card of the richest clubs lies in the profit that FIFA could make, and which it would practically ‘take away’ from the earnings that UEFA, as the richest football organization, gets from the Champions League.

The document, signed by 15 European clubs, is described as a ‘devil’s pact’ that could radically change football. It states that the ‘Super League’ would have 15 guaranteed participants (the founding clubs) but that it would have a total of 20 teams. The other five or more places (flexibility left) could be filled by teams from all continents through qualifiers, which would increase the popularity of the competition in Africa, Asia, and America.

One of the proposals refers to the fact that, for example, each continent – through its strongest competition – is to give one participant for each following season. An additional bait for FIFA lies in the fact that the best 12 from the ‘Super League’ would participate in the Club World Cup, with the obligation to play in it with the strongest squads. Let us remind you that this is a competition that FIFA has been trying to raise to the highest level for years, but it does not succeed precisely because the coaches, due to the fight on too many fronts, mostly send backup teams to the event.

FIFA, as the organizer of the ‘Super League’, would oblige to release the founding clubs from playing in UEFA competitions and, as a compromise, they left the possibility to stay to compete in national leagues (although it is clear to everyone that they would play with backup teams there).

The competition calendar would guarantee to play national championships on weekends, and ‘Super League’ matches would be stretched from Monday to Friday due to television rights. Apart from the guarantee that the Club World Cup will, as well as the national leagues, continue to exist, the strongest card that the clubs have submitted to FIFA refers to money.

Money and the Inclusion of Other Continental Federations

The founding investment would amount to an incredible € 3.93 billion. According to the clubs, one of the largest banks in the world, JPMorgan, and allegedly many UEFA sponsors (including Gazprom), are ready to additionally finance the new competition. It is also estimated that the total fund could be increased by another 65% of the television rights that would be sold on all continents.

The idea is that the founders of the league and FIFA would share 33.3 % of profits each year, regardless of premiums. The next 33.3 % would be distributed to all participants (depending on the placement), while the remaining sum would be invested in strengthening and promoting the competition.

The founding clubs would have a guaranteed starting premium of € 350 million each season just for participation, while those who qualify through the qualifications would receive € 100 million. The clubs also presented FIFA with a detailed plan according to which they are ready to wait for the ‘Super League’ to start until 2024, which is the year for which UEFA announced the reorganization of the Champions League. They also offered that the period of adjustment could last from 2024 to 2027 at the latest, until when they would play UEFA competitions in parallel but without the obligation to perform with the strongest squads in them.

The agreement on the establishment of the ‘Super League’ would also guarantee that all clubs, without exception, would provide players for all FIFA competitions of national teams, including qualifications for the World Cup.

However, this is not the end of the proposal of the richest clubs because the allocation of finances for the Pan-African League is also on the table. It is a new competition in which FIFA plans to invest around € 200 million, and in which 24 clubs would participate with the aim of providing participants for the Club World Cup. The richest clubs have proposed to additionally finance this competition with € 500 million every year, and for the winner to have a guaranteed place in the ‘Super League’ next season.

There is no doubt that this new plan could seriously shake the unity in FIFA, which has otherwise been shaken by completely different views of the six confederations. On the one hand, there is UEFA and CONMEBOL (South American Football Confederation), which are strong in defending the current systems of competition and against any change, and on the other hand are all others, especially AFC (Asian Football Federation) and CONCACAF (Confederation of North, Central American, and Caribbean Football Associations) who have long wanted to raise the level of their earnings to that of Europe and Latin America.

How ‘Super League’ Will Be Played?

The competition in the ‘Super League’ would take place in two groups with 10 teams each. Everyone would play with everyone according to the league system within their group (home and away). Then the first four teams from each group would play the knockout phase from the quarterfinals.

The biggest advantage is that the finals could always be played on another continent, and the goal is to bring the commercial earnings that the Super Bowl (American football finals) has.

Founders of the Super League: Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Bayern, Borussia Dortmund, Juventus, Milan, Inter, and Paris Saint-Germain.

As it looks like at the moment, UEFA does not have enough authority and will not be able to protect that body from the collapse of the current competition system.