Breakaway clubs to suffer ‘consequences’, says FIFA boss Gianni Infantino

FIFA boss Gianni Infantino has blasted the proposed European Super League and warned that the clubs involved could face “consequences”.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino addresses the UEFA Congress in Montreux.

FIFA boss Gianni Infantino has blasted the proposed European Super League and warned that the clubs involved could face “consequences”.

Twelve major clubs have launched plans for a new breakaway league that would drastically change the landscape of the world’s most popular sport.

“At FIFA we can only and strongly disapprove the creation of the Super League, of a Super League which is a closed shop, a breakaway from the current institutions, from the leagues, from the associations, from UEFA, and from FIFA,” Infantino told a UEFA congress in Switzerland.

“There is no doubt whatsoever of FIFA’s disapproval for this.”

Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur are the six English clubs involved, together with Barcelona, Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid from Spain and Italian trio Juventus, AC Milan and Inter Milan.

UEFA has said the teams would be banned from domestic and other European competitions, including the Champions League.

Real Madrid president Florentino Perez, the head of the new ESL, has insisted that would be “impossible”, but Infantino threatened action as FIFA took a stronger stance than it did with its initial statement when the news first broke.

“It is our task to protect the European sport model, so if some elect to go their own way then they must live with the consequences of their choices,” said Infantino. “They are responsible for their choices.

“Either you’re in or you’re out. You can’t be half in and half out. Think of it, this has to be absolutely, absolutely clear.”

UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin said there was still time for clubs to pull out, addressing the owners, particularly of the Premier League teams involved, and saying they could row back on their “mistake”.

“Gentlemen, you made a huge mistake,” said Ceferin, who had launched a withering attack against the ESL clubs on Monday.

“Some will say it is greed, some complete ignorance of England’s football culture. There’s still time to change your mind. Everyone makes mistakes.

“English fans deserve to have you correct your mistake, they deserve respect.”

The 15 founding ESL clubs, three of which are yet to be announced, would qualify automatically every season, with only five other places up for grabs each year.

“UEFA competitions need Atalanta, Celtic, Dynamo,” continued Ceferin. “We need those clubs. People need to know that everything is possible, everyone has a chance.

“The big clubs today have not necessarily been big in the past. Football is dynamic and football is unpredictable, this is what makes it such a beautiful game.”

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was hosting a meeting of football chiefs and fans’ representatives late on Tuesday as they consider what action to take over the rebel league.

It is understood the Premier League called its other 14 clubs to an emergency shareholders’ meeting late on Tuesday, to which the Big Six were not invited.

Johnson told fans he would do everything he could to give the European Super League a “straight red” card.

Writing in the Sun newspaper, he said he was “horrified” at the implications for clubs up and down the country, which had a “unique place” at the heart of their communities.

In a direct message to fans, he said: “It is your game — and you can rest assured that I’m going to do everything I can to give this ludicrous plan a straight red.”

Protests took place outside Manchester United’s Old Trafford ground and Liverpool and Leeds fans gathered outside Elland Road before their Premier League match to voice their opposition.

Prince William, the English FA’s president, also shared his concerns over the proposed new competition.

“Now, more than ever, we must protect the entire football community — from the top level to the grassroots — and the values of competition and fairness at its core,” he tweeted.

The breakaway announcement came just hours before UEFA announced a new, 36-team format for the Champions League, which had been conceived to placate the continent’s biggest clubs.

Britain’s culture and sports secretary Oliver Dowden has raised the possibility of invoking competition laws to block the Super League.

Competitions watchdog the Competition and Markets Authority told AFP it would study the details of the plan.

“The proposals for a European football super league have attracted high levels of public interest,” a spokesman said.

“It is a complex area and we will be carefully considering any competition concerns relating to these proposals.”

AFP