What are the 10 principles of the European Super League?

Here we go again. The names A22 and Bernt Reichart are back and they’ve got a shiny, new, 10-principle proposal for the European Super League, just under two years after the original model fell flat on its face.

In April 2021, 12 teams announced that they had signed up for the European Super League: Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atlético Madrid, Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham, Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool, Milan, Inter and Juventus. Within a matter of days, only three – Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus – remained, with the five English clubs first to pull out after being put under pressure from players, fans and the vast majority of their stakeholders. The two Milan clubs and Atlético Madrid swiftly followed and the ESL was dead in the water before it had even begun to float.

A22′s latest proposal is vastly different to the original effort and they are confident that their “Ten principles for a European football league”, which would tackle a number of issues, would lead to positive – and necessary - reform across the continent.

Why does European soccer need the Super League, according to A22 and Reichart?

“European football is on the brink of the abyss. Huge imbalances have arisen across our continent and traditional European clubs, with a glorious past, today are unable to compete”, believes Reichart. “Last October we started an open process of dialogue on the future of European football. Since then we have spoken with almost 50 clubs and other players in the sector and the conclusion shared by almost all of them is that the foundation on which European football is founded is seriously threatened. The time has come to make changes”.

How would the ‘new’ European Super League work?

Instead of a league of 20 teams with 15 permanent members, as was first proposed, Reichart told German newspaper Die Welt that the new project would be made up of 60 to 80 teams split into different divisions, who would qualify based on their performances in domestic leagues, in which they would remain (“broad and merit-based competitions” is principle number one, “domestic tournaments: the basis of football” is number two).

Each participating club would be guaranteed a minimum of 14 matches per season, which would provide “stability and predictability of revenue”, while financial transparency (principle number five) is another key factor of the proposal: “Club spending must be based solely on the funds generated and not on competitively distorting capital injections.”

In addition to the fairly vague ‘the best football competition in the world” (principle six), also covered are improving player welfare, making the competition attractive to a younger audience, helping further develop women’s soccer, increasing solidarity between clubs and institutions, including the European Union.

The “10 principles for a European football league”

Is the European Super League legal?

At the end of January, a Spanish court concluded that FIFA and UEFA had no grounds to prevent the European Super League from being formed and criticised both organisations for “trying to sustain a monopoly” and “abusing their positions of dominance” under EU competition law.

However, the European Court of Justice, which is expected to give a final ruling this year, released a conflicting preliminary report in December which said that the two governing bodies were within their rights to threaten to sanction clubs and players who joined a breakaway league, judging those actions to be “compatible with EU competition law”.

LaLiga president Javier Tebas, an outspoken critic of the European Super League, said on Thursday morning that the project was “the Wolf disguised as Grandma in an effort to try to fool European soccer”.