ESL: Key questions answered as fresh plans for competition announced

A new-look European Super League (ESL) could contain up to 80 teams in a multi-divisional format, but what else do we know so far? Sky Sports News answers the key questions...

What has been announced?

A22 Sports Management, which is the company created by Barcelona, Real Madrid and Juventus to sponsor and push through legislation for the ESL, has released its 10-point principles for the competition.

The competition's chief executive, Bernd Reichart, told German newspaper Die Welt that a new-look, open European Super League could contain up to 80 teams in a multi-divisional format.

The competition would be based on sporting performance only with no permanent members and teams would be guaranteed a minimum of 14 matches per season, which would not be an increase in the total number of matches played by clubs per season.

So there would be promotion and relegation?

The biggest opposition to the original ESL plan in April 2021 was because it would be a "closed shop" with no promotion or relegation.

A very important principle in English football is that success on the pitch is rewarded, maintaining the "sporting integrity" of competitions.

So, the ESL organisers have announced there will not be a closed shop and there would be promotion and relegation with up to 80 teams from across Europe playing in three divisions with no permanent members.

However, when you drill down into that, promotion and relegation will only be via the bottom few places in the lowest of those three divisions the ESL is proposing. Therefore, the suggestion is potentially three clubs from across the whole of Europe will be promoted into the lowest of the three European Super Leagues.

Does this make it really an "open" competition?

Would there be more matches in a season? Is player welfare being considered?

A22 has said "player health must be at the centre of the game", and promises there will be no increase in the number of matches currently played.

How does that work in England, if clubs play an additional 14 games per season?

Manchester City, for example, have currently played six Champions League games this season. They face RB Leipzig in the first knockout round in a fortnight with the tie being played over two legs. If they win that then they would reach the quarter-finals (played over two legs), then potentially the semi-finals (also played over two legs) and a one-off final.

That would mean City would play 13 games if they went all the way to the final with the new ESL proposals suggesting teams would have a minimum of 14 games per season.

What money is involved?

It is being suggested a minimum of €400m-a-year (£355m) extra would be generated by this competition. It is claimed the ESL would pay more than UEFA does to women's and grassroots football across Europe.

The Premier League currently generates and pays £1.6bn in solidarity payments over three years, so that is more than £500m-a-year shared in solidarity to women's football, the EFL and grassroots football just in England, compared with the £355m which the ESL is talking about, shared across the whole of Europe.

What's the reaction in Europe?

The idea of a European Super League is still being pursued primarily by Barcelona, Real Madrid and Juventus.

Reichart, the CEO of A22, has said: "The foundations of European football are in danger of collapsing. It's time for a change.

"It is the clubs that bear the entrepreneurial risk in football. But when important decisions are at stake, they are too often forced to sit idly by on the sidelines as the sporting and financial foundations crumble around them."

At the moment, clubs in Spain and Italy are struggling financially, whereas the Premier League isn't. We saw this in the recent transfer window where Premier League side Chelsea smashed the British transfer record.

In total, Chelsea splashed over £323m on eight players in January - that's more than the clubs in the Italian, German, French and Spanish top flights combined.

What about in England? What's the appetite for the ESL among England's elite clubs?

The mood of the biggest Premier League clubs has changed.

With the league now stable and new TV deals in place, this seems to have placated some of England's biggest clubs, who wanted a bigger slice of the pie that they help more than most to generate.

Those in charge of the big six clubs are also still stung by the public animosity to the idea of the ESL first time around.

Remember, when the initial plans were announced, there were protest marches in the streets and at grounds here in England, whereas there were no such protests in Europe.

What happens next?

A22 has challenged UEFA and FIFA's right to block the formation of the European Super League and sanction the competing clubs in the courts, arguing the governing bodies are abusing a dominant position under EU competition law

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) is due to give its final ruling in the case later this year, but a non-binding opinion delivered by the Advocate General in the case in December said rules allowing UEFA and FIFA to block the formation of new competitions was compatible with EU law.

Although it is not guaranteed, the ECJ usually follows the view of the Advocate General.

Will it succeed?

Sky Sports News' Kaveh Solhekol:

"I would say the chances of it happening are somewhere between slim and none. To have a European Super League that anyone is ever going to watch, you're going to need to have English clubs in it like Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea.

"These Premier League clubs cannot join a breakaway league. The Premier League handbook has the owners' charter which is something all the owners of Premier League clubs have had to sign. In that charter, point nine says, 'We are collectively committed to the Premier League and recognise our responsibility to support it. We will not engage in the creation of new competition formats outside the Premier League's rules'.

"The government white paper that is going to come out which will recommend setting up an Independent Regulator for football will make it absolutely clear that clubs cannot join a breakaway Super League either.

"Last time they tried it, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham all thought it was a fantastic idea. It fell apart in a matter of days and were all fined.

"In my opinion, this is never going to happen because the Premier League clubs cannot join it.

"A22 Sports Management is effectively saying UEFA are anti-competitive, why shouldn't other people be allowed to set up leagues? What they want to do is replace one cartel with another cartel. Instead of UEFA running the game in Europe, they want it to be run by Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus.

The story of the European Super League