European Super League: Italian giants join six English clubs in withdrawing from rebel competition

Two Italian clubs have joined the Premier League's "big six" in abandoning the breakaway European Super League.

The implosion of the European Super League (ESL) has continued with La Liga side Atletico Madrid and Italian giants Inter Milan and AC Milan joining England's 'big six' clubs in withdrawing from the rebel competition after furious backlash.

The choice of the UK clubs and the addition of Atletico, Inter and AC Milan to abandon the project leaves just three sides: Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus still involved, although the latter conceded the league can no longer go ahead.

The ESL was designed by the European giants to guarantee revenue from more regular matches against one another without the risk of failing to qualify for 15 founder members.

A 3.5 billion euro ($4.2 billion) pot, financed by US investment bank JP Morgan, had been raised to be distributed among the founding members to offset the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

However, reaction to the plans has been scathing, with politicians and football authorities threatening to take legal action against the so-called “dirty dozen”, who were told they faced potential bans from domestic and continental competitions.

"Atletico de Madrid made the decision last Monday to join this project in response to circumstances that no longer exist today," the club said in a statement on Wednesday.

"For the club, harmony is essential between all the groups that make up the rojiblanca family, especially our fans."

AC Milan said: "We accepted the invitation to participate in the Super League project with the genuine intention to deliver the best possible European competition for football fans around the world and in the best interest of the club and our own fans.

"Change is not always easy, but evolution is necessary for progress, and the structures of European football have evolved and changed over the decades. However, the voices and the concerns of fans around the world have clearly been expressed about the Super League, and AC Milan must be sensitive to the voice of those who love this wonderful sport.

pic.twitter.com/X2ZFqJ9T4L

— Jordan Henderson (@JHenderson) April 20, 2021

On Tuesday, Manchester United confirmed it would step away from the Super League.

“Manchester United will not be participating in the European Super League,” the 20-time English champions said in a statement.

“We have listened carefully to the reaction from our fans, the UK government and other key stakeholders.

“We remain committed to working with others across the football community to come up with sustainable solutions to the long-term challenges facing the game.” United also announced on Tuesday that executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward will leave his role by the end of the year.

British culture secretary Oliver Dowden said a fan-led review into the governance of English football will still go ahead despite the U-turn.

He tweeted: “The whole ESL move shows how out-of-touch these owners are. They have completely misjudged the strength of feeling from fans, players and the whole country. Football is for the fans.

“Our fan-led review will still happen and I remain convinced of the need for reform. We must make sure this never happens again.”

Chelsea fans voice their disapproval of the European Super League in London. Picture: Adrian Dennis/AFP

The plans were even fiercely criticised by many of the clubs’ own players and managers for acting as a closed shop.

Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson posted his disapproval of the plans on behalf of the squad on Twitter.

In a statement, Liverpool said: “Liverpool Football Club can confirm that our involvement in proposed plans to form a European Super League has been discontinued.

“In recent days, the club has received representations from various key stakeholders, both internally and externally, and we would like to thank them for their valuable contributions.” Arsenal went further by apologising to supporters for misjudging the move to sign up to proposals.

We will not be participating in the European Super League.#MUFC

— Manchester United (@ManUtd) April 20, 2021

“It was never our intention to cause such distress, however when the invitation to join the Super League came, while knowing there were no guarantees, we did not want to be left behind to ensure we protected Arsenal and its future,” the Gunners said in a statement.

“As a result of listening to you and the wider football community over recent days we are withdrawing from the proposed Super League. We made a mistake, and we apologise for it.”

Chelsea fans gathered outside Stamford Bridge to protest ahead of their side’s 0-0 draw with Brighton in the Premier League on Tuesday and celebrated when reports broke that the Blues were planning to pull out.

Tottenham fans had also planned a protest ahead of their clash on Wednesday against Southampton.

“We regret the anxiety and upset caused by the ESL proposal,” said Spurs chairman Daniel Levy.

Poor statement. Some contrition from the shamed John W Henry would have been welcome. He’s let down staff, manager, players and fans. He’s badly damaged a great club’s reputation. #lfc #SuperLeague pic.twitter.com/1yzQkGWA8M

— Henry Winter (@henrywinter) April 20, 2021

OPINION: VICTORY FOR FANS BUT FIGHT AGAINST GREED IS NOT OVER

- Henry Winter

Let us all warm to the bonfire of the vanities, the blaze claiming the reputations of the arrogant.

We all knew the enemy within English football: Joel Glazer and Ed Woodward with their creed of greed at Manchester United; John W Henry with his craven “This Means More” mantra; his This is Brandfield-grasping of the furlough cash at Liverpool, which was hastily returned; and Stan Kroenke with his silent contempt for Arsenal fans, his persistent putting financial return before footballing.

We all knew the American carpetbaggers had ridden into town, turning it into the Wild West.

We could all see the company they increasingly kept, building bonds with Joe Lewis and his sidekick Daniel Levy at Tottenham Hotspur. That was to be expected. That quartet, the Americans and Lewis, were all about the money.

The other two of the shamed “big six”, Roman Abramovich at Chelsea and Sheikh Mansour at Manchester City, had seemed actually interested in the football, in the pursuit of trophies, and their supporter base credited their benign influence, their investment in infrastructure and academies as well as playing and coaching talent.

Their motivation seemed more about enhancing their image in the West, not swelling their bank balance. Abramovich and Mansour are hardly short of a billion or two.

We can confirm that we have formally commenced procedures to withdraw from the group developing proposals for a European Super League (ESL).#THFC ⚪️ #COYS

— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) April 20, 2021

But what a squalid little sextet they all now appear, Glazer, Henry, Kroenke, Lewis, Abramovich and Mansour, owners loathed by those who love the game, gloriously skewered by Gary Neville on Sky Sports, denounced by dukes.

Even the prime minister, not naturally a man with his finger on the racing pulse of the national game, gave Glazer and his egregious company a jolly good kicking.

Can they recover? Some will step down, run out of town, mocked on their way like Woodward is.

Woodward is a brilliant revenue-generator, the skilled money man to nail down that lucrative club-sponsorship tyre deal in Thailand, but lacking the awareness and humility to understand how clubs of United’s stature should conduct themselves.

The European Super League (ESL) was an affront to the history, ethos and endless challenge of the European Cup and Woodward, employed by the club of Sir Matt Busby and Sir Alex Ferguson, should have run a mile from the concept and competition.

Woodward became Icarus, believing in himself, in the Glazers, in the naive possibility that he could write off decades of marvellous duelling between clubs in Europe and swap it for El Plastico, meetings between some of the stellar clubs in the continental firmament but actually not those like Ajax Amsterdam and Bayern Munich who have conquered Europe more often than United.

The arrogance.

And let’s not get started on Arsenal, Spurs or City, who have yet to be crowned champions of Europe. The whole ESL fiasco is an exercise in hubris.

It would be easy to sit back and laugh at their sudden collapse, at the sight of first Chelsea and then City seeing sense, shamed into it, and breaking away from the breakaway, leaving the Americans and Lewis as the rebels without a clue.

They will all turn back, then re-embark on the road to contrition. Some will hide. That’s Kroenke’s default position.

Football supporters demonstrate against the proposed European Super League outside of Stamford Bridge football stadium in London. Picture: Adrian Dennis/AFP

They are cowards, leaving others to face the music, and the music is deafening.

Their representatives will have to start rebuilding trust, going into Old Trafford, the Emirates Stadium and elsewhere, apologising and acknowledging mistakes.

The “shamed six” spent millions on advice for this doomed scheme, so here’s some for free.

Ditch the hopeless bankers and useless advisers, individuals who could have read the room.

Even the players, enjoying such lavish salaries from the owners, were beginning to rebel.

Those who popped up above the parapet first, the conscientious likes of James Milner, Jordan Henderson, Marcus Rashford and Luke Shaw, will be eternally saluted for taking a stance.

Harry Kane? England captain? Where were you? In pivotal 48-hour periods like this, and the ESL was so short-lived it didn’t even have a pre-season, people’s principles come under intense scrutiny. Woodward failed. Shaw didn’t.

The “shamed six” need to learn some honesty, some humility.

One of the bankers on the board at JP Morgan, the controversial bankers who offered a seductive line of credit for the Super Leaguers, posted that the “best advice for staying resilient in challenging times” was to “stay true to your values”.

Well, that drew a toxic response from football’s massed roving army on Twitter. Values? ESL? No chance. Just devalued.

Arsenal captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang makes his feelings heard on the Super League - and more importantly - the case of George Floyd. pic.twitter.com/3UVE1JexjH

— Chris Wheatley (@ChrisWheatley_) April 20, 2021

How naive is JP Morgan to believe its social media would not be ambushed? The post came from the chairman of JP Morgan’s risk-management committee and fans will be surprised to discover the bank has one.

The bank needs to acquire some better understanding of football, if it dares venture in again, and learn some scruples.

The “shamed six” and JP Morgan clearly do not have a moral compass but this whole period has shown that football does.

So fair play to the fans of Chelsea who inundated their chairman, Bruce Buck, with sulphurous letters and emails talking of their sadness about ending long, emotional associations with their club.

So fair play to the Liverpool fans who so embarrassed the club by demanding their famous banners, homages to Anfield legends, be removed from the Kop in disgust at Henry’s actions.

So fair play to the heartbroken City fans who have gone on daytime TV and called out their owners.

This has been a victory for the fans and an emphatic defeat for the owners. But it’s not over.

Fortunately, the fans individually, and collectively through the Football Supporters’ Association, will keep campaigning, keep complaining.

Fortunately, Westminster appears to have a Digital, Culture, Media and Sport leader in Oliver Dowden wanting to keep the pressure on the shamed sextet.

The fight against bad or misguided owners is far from over. But there is hope. We all knew the menace seeping into the boardrooms.

Now the resistance movement is ready.

Originally published as European Super League: Italian giants join six English clubs in withdrawing from rebel competition