The prospect of plans for a European Super League (ESL) to be revived appear to have been boosted by a ruling from the European Court of Justice (ECJ) on Thursday morning.
As reported by Sky Sports and BBC, the court has ruled that UEFA rules blocking the formation of the extremely controversial tournament were contrary to EU competition law. In April 2021, the governing body of European football had threatened to sanction clubs who signed up to the proposed ESL.
Liverpool were among six teams from the Premier League, and 12 in total, who had initially been on board with the breakaway league. However, after mass protests from fans, all of the English representatives withdrew from the competition within 48 hours of first announcing their intentions to join.
In a special Daily Briefing for CaughtOffside, Fabrizio Romano reacted: “While this does not mean that a Super League will definitely be going ahead at any point, it seems that this is at least one major obstacle out of the way of its possible formation.
“There was a huge fan backlash from clubs when they tried to join the Super League just over two years ago, and one imagines there would be similar hurdles for clubs to contend with if they tried this again.”
Football supporters across England and Europe may now be dreading the possibility of the ESL being revived in the wake of the ECJ’s ruling this morning.
Liverpool fans – and indeed those of the other five Premier League clubs who’d initially signed up – made their feelings unmistakably clear in 2021 when vehemently protesting against the proposed breakaway , with many supporters calling for FSG’s departure in the wake of the universally unpopular proposal.
We can only hope that, if the dreaded ESL does rear its ugly head again following today’s news, the Merseyside club will affirm from the very start that it has no intention of getting on board again.
UEFA are far from perfect, as Reds fans know all too well from the 2022 Champions League final, but at least their competitions operate on the basis of participation being earned through on-field performance, rather than bought in a boardroom.
First and foremost, we fervently wish that Liverpool will play no part in any potential revival of the ESL. We’d also love to see every other club who’d originally planned to join in 2021 sticking two fingers up at this avaricious and egregious sham of a ‘tournament’, which goes against everything that football should stand for.
📖 Anfield Annals: John Smith – Liverpool’s Red Knight and Most Successful Chairman