The European Football Association (UEFA) announced Friday (7) that nine of the 12 clubs that announced the participation of the new “Superliga” have been reinstated “in a spirit of reconciliation and for European football.”
According to the official memo, Arsenal, Atletico Madrid, Chelsea, Inter, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Milan and Tottenham admitted that the idea of creating a new league “was a mistake” and apologized to “the fans, national associations, national leagues, European clubs and UEFA.”
“I said at the UEFA Conference that it takes a powerful organization to admit to making a mistake, especially in the days of judgment on social media. These clubs have just done that. In acceptance of their commitments and their willingness to fix the turmoil, Alexander Ceferin, president of the European Union said. For football, “It caused it. UEFA wants to leave this behind and move forward in a positive spirit.”
As a result, according to the UEFA leader, potential fines to be applied to clubs “will be reinvested in youth football and youth in societies across Europe, including the United Kingdom.”
However, Juventus, Real Madrid and Barcelona have not taken the same step and are still subject to tougher penalties from the entity – including even a ban on competitions. For Severin, the three clubs could be targets of “any qualifying action as appropriate” and that they “still refuse to give up the Premier League”.
He added, “The matter will be referred quickly to the competent disciplinary authorities.”
“Superliga” lasted less than three days after announcing the creation of the group, as the nine clubs announced their departure. The idea was to hold weekend matches, with the founders’ content, with the goal of grabbing the cash distributed in European football.
However, since the announcement, the measure has been rejected almost unanimously by the clubs and governments of the respective countries (UK, Italy and Spain), as well as violent protests from the fans of the 12 clubs.
