European Football –
The Super League is renamed “Unify League”
To obtain official recognition, the competition has a new name. However, its creation remains a complex challenge.
Published: 12/17/2024, 4:03 p.m.
On April 19, 2021, these 12 presidents of European clubs announced the launch of the European Super League before retracting under pressure. From left to right top: Florentino Perez of Real Madrid, Joan Laporta of FC Barcelona, Enrique Cerezo of Atletico Madrid, Andrea Agnelli of Juventus, Steven Zhang of Inter Milan, Ivan Gazidis of AC Milan. Bottom left to right: Stan Kroenke of Arsenal, Joel Glazer of Manchester United, John W Henry of Liverpool, Daniel Levy of Tottenham Hotspur, Roman Abramovich of Chelsea, and Ferran Soriano of Manchester City.
AFP
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The promoter of the Super League asked FIFA and UEFA for “official recognition” of its competition, renamed the “Unify League”. It is based on a judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).
A22 Sports Management has “sent a proposal to UEFA and FIFA in order to obtain official recognition of its new cross-border European club football competitions,” the Madrid-based company wrote. Assuring that it had discussed with the various championships, clubs and other stakeholders, A22 indicated that it had modified its formula by taking into account “annual performances” in the championship to determine the participants in the competition, without further details on the participants and the calendar. .
“The competition has a new name, the “Unify League”, consistent with the streaming platform which will broadcast the matches live for free”, supposed to “considerably improve the viewing experience at home”, added A22.
Risk of implosion
This alternative project to the semi-closed competition Champions League, which almost imploded European football in 2021, was initially supported by 12 clubs spearheaded by Real Madrid and FC Barcelona. But the six English clubs had thrown in the towel in the face of hostility from football authorities, their supporters and the risk of legislative measures envisaged by several governments. Other clubs then also gave up.
In May 2024, a Spanish court decision found that FIFA and UEFA had “abused their dominant position” by opposing the Super League. It took up the reasoning which led the CJEU to disavow the rules of UEFA and FIFA aimed at blocking the emergence of competing tournaments, which are legitimate if they respect the principles of inclusiveness, meritocracy and if they integrated into the overall calendar.
But UEFA reacted by emphasizing that it had designed new regulations which “are not affected by the decision”: the Madrid court “does not give third parties the right to develop competitions without authorization”, she summarized.
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