BEVERLY HILLS, April 20, (THEWILL) – It had been a wild 48-hour period of football news frenzy as reactions have not stopped pouring in against the announcement of the formation of a new European Super League of Europe’s biggest clubs, 12 of whom were announced as founding members.
Now, in an incredible turn of events, all 12 have been on a conference call on Tuesday evening in a bid to get an exit strategy that will provide them with a soft landing following the vociferous protests against the breakaway competition, which has already seen one resignation: the Executive Vice Chairman of Manchester United, Ed Woodward.
Since the exclusive competition was announced on Sunday night, the barrage of negative press it generated and outright condemnation it evoked from fans and supporters must have overwhelmed them because Chelsea, on Tuesday, became the first club to dramatically begin drawing up plans to pull out of the new League.
Chelsea’s immediate action cannot be removed from the massive fan protest outside the Stamford Bridge grounds of the club ahead of their English Premier League fixture with Brighton Hove and Albion in west London on Tuesday. Hundreds of Chelsea supporters lined the Fulham Road to protest the club’s decision to join the Super League, blocking the team bus from reaching the stadium for the game.
It was not until the news broke that Chelsea had begun the process of backing out of the new League, that jubilant protesters acceded to the pleas of the club to let the bus in, while celebrating their success.
Now, that presents a crisis for the other founding clubs. This is behind their crisis talks in their overt bids to desperately find an exit strategy from the much-maligned plans of an exclusive money-spinning best-of-the-best League.
According to sources in the know, representatives from Milan, Arsenal, Atlético Madrid, Chelsea, Barcelona, Inter, Juventus, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Real Madrid and Tottenham Hotspur have been on a call to find a way out, having “heard the fans”, which must be synonymous with having seen the folly of their ways.
Man City became the second club to begin those withdrawal preparations as an official club statement revealed. It said that the “Manchester City Football Club can confirm that it has formally enacted the procedures to withdraw from the group developing plans for a European Super League.”
It will not be long before Man Utd, Tottenham, Barcelona and Atlético Madrid follow suit. And, the two-day old new European Super League will have died before it has a chance to live.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
