Super League LIVE: New tournament format announced hours after ruling

The Football Supporters’ Association has released a statement of their own saying that there is no place for a breakaway competition.

At the end of the season, there will be a knockout competition to determine which teams go on to win the trophy as well as which teams can gain promotion to a higher league.

The first two tiers, Star and Gold, will consist of 16 teams each with the Blue league having 32 teams. Clubs are to play home and away matches in groups of 8 with a minimum of 14 matches per year.

Reichart says that a league playing just 14 matches means every match will count.

The new European Super League proposal has 64 teams spread over three tiers labelled: Star, Gold and Blue. This is apparantly been brought in to acknowledge that participation is based on sporting merit with no permanent members.

Annual promotion and relegation will happen between leagues with promotion into 3rd tier Blue League being based upon domestic league performances.

Bernd Reichart, the chief executive of A22, is currently on a live stream and is preparing to explain the changes made to the European Super League and how he plans to introduce the new competition.

Here’s the ruling from the judges which states that Uefa blocking the creation of the ESL went against EU law:

A driving force behind the creation of a new European competition, Barcelona have released this statement confirming their position as one of the biggest clubs in favour of the ESL. It reads:

“FC Barcelona wishes to express its satisfaction with the sentence of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) assessing the Super League project as proposed by A22 Sports.

“As one of the clubs driving the Super League project, FC Barcelona feels that the sentence paves the way for a new elite level football competition in Europe by opposing the monopoly over the football world, and wishes to initiate new discussions as to the path that European competitions should take in the future.

“Since it was founded in 1899, FC Barcelona has always been a pioneering club in the world of sport, leading the drive towards more professionalised structures both on a domestic and international scale, with regard to both men’s and women’s competitions, in a variety of sports and from different social concerns.

“Hence, as it has been maintaining in recent years, the club feels that the medium-term sustainability of European football entails the need create a concept along the lines of the Super League proposed by A22. A system of competition that will address such issues as fixture overload and the excessive number of games between national teams, that will work towards regulation of financial fair play among participating teams, and that will put local and international players and supporters at the centre.

“This system must respect the functions and sustainability of domestic competitions and should be a meritocracy that is primarily based on results on the pitch.

“In a year when the club is celebrating its 125th anniversary, Barça wishes to continue to offer its experience and knowledge of different sports to propose solutions for current issues in elite sport.

“That is why it is declaring its support for the Super League promoted by A22 and encourages constructive debate among both domestic and international football bodies, which have now been endorsed by today’s sentence by the Court of Justice of the European Union. The foregoing is all subject to a complete reading of the sentence.”

It’s been a busy day so far and more announcements are set to come. The UK government department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has released plans to bring forward legislation for an independent regulator in English football.

Their statement says: “We note the decision by the European Court of Justice’s judgement in regard to the European Super League.

“The attempt to create a breakaway competition was a defining moment in English football and was universally condemned by fans, clubs and the government.

“We took decisive action at the time by triggering the fan-led review of football governance, which called for an independent regulator in English football.

“We will shortly be bringing forward legislation which makes this a reality, and will stop clubs from joining any similar breakaway competitions in the future.”

In response to the European Court of Justice’s ruling this morning, Uefa has issued a statement which reads:

“UEFA takes note of the judgment delivered today by the ECJ in the European Super League case.

“This ruling does not signify an endorsement or validation of the so-called ‘super league’; it rather underscores a pre-existing shortfall within UEFA’s pre-authorisation framework, a technical aspect that has already been acknowledged and addressed in June 2022. UEFA is confident in the robustness of its new rules, and specifically that they comply with all relevant European laws and regulations.

“UEFA remains resolute in its commitment to uphold the European football pyramid, ensuring that it continues to serve the broader interests of society. We will continue to shape the European sports model collectively with national associations, leagues, clubs, fans, players, coaches, EU institutions, governments and partners alike.

“We trust that the solidarity-based European football pyramid that the fans and all stakeholders have declared as their irreplaceable model will be safeguarded against the threat of breakaways by European and national laws.”

The governing body of European football will also be hosting a press conference at 1pm where they will probably go into detail about how they plan to bring their rules in line with EU law and what concerns they have over the revamped European Super League.

Back in February news broke of the European Super League being relaunched into a more palatable version to appease the supporters and fans who saw the original version as a greedy cash grab.

Up to 80 teams, multiple divisions and a guarantee of 14 matches per season were touted by Bernd Reichart, the chief executive of A22 who are in charge of promoting the ESL.

He detailed the framework of the new league to German newspaper Die Welt. Today there will be more announcements in a livestream at 11am, but will it happen this time?

Here’s what we know so far about the revived European Super League: