Liverpool could face further sanctions, separate from those handed to them by UEFA, following the club’s involvement in the failed European Super League.
This comes from Marca (via Sport Witness), who confirm that the Premier League ‘big six’, including the Reds, have been threatened with legal action by the three remaining rebel outfits clinging on the breakaway league.
“After making it clear to those who’ve pulled out that they’re aware of them doing so, the letter warns Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham and Atletico Madrid that they are in ‘breach’ of their ‘obligations’,” Sean Lunt wrote.
“It continues that they consider the clubs in breach of agreements signed and invites them to ‘reconsider’ their actions and make it clear that they believe the arguments put forward do not excuse said breach.
“There is also a slight dig at managers such as Klopp, Solskjaer and Pep Guardiola, with it stated that the ‘public announcements’ by the clubs and managers have caused ‘significant damage to the partnership.’
“The clubs are then told that those who remain, so Barcelona, Madrid and Juventus, reserve the right to ‘seek appropriate legal action including damages’.”
With the nine sides previously involved in talks to form a Super League having admitted the errors of their ways (some more vocally than others) and committing to a reintegration process with UEFA, it seems highly unlikely that Florentino Perez and co’s threats will stick.
Considering the European governing body’s own sizeable monetary threat of €100m, amongst a range of sanctions, should the penitent clubs attempt to mount a similar coup in future, there’s little in the way of financial incentive to motivate a return to the breakaway League.
With the La Liga sides in particular facing piling mountains of debt, the latest attempt at blackmail struggles to come off as anything else but a clumsy act of desperation.
Whether the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus have a legal leg to stand on remains to be seen.