European Super League: What is it? Which football clubs are involved?
- Published
- comments
The 'Big Six' English clubs have agreed to join a new Super League
Six English teams have announced that they have agreed to join a new European Super League (ESL).
Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham are among a group of clubs who are part of plans to form a breakaway league featuring some of football's biggest teams.
The ESL has been created as a rival to the Uefa Champions League, which is currently European club football's most important competition.
But the move has sparked anger with critics saying it is purely motivated by greed and making more money for the world's biggest clubs.
The plan would mean the same 15 clubs play European football every year and other clubs would find it very difficult to get involved as there would only be five spaces left for everyone else.
The Premier League have warned it could mean the clubs involved being expelled and Fifa says players taking part would be banned from the World Cup.
Keep reading to find out more about this story then have your say in our vote below on whether you think the ESL is a good or bad idea. Don't forget to leave us your comments too.
What is the European Super League?
Arsenal and Tottenham - who are currently not in qualifying positions for next season's Champions League - have signed up to a breakaway league
Twelve of Europe's leading football clubs have agreed to create a Super League.
The six Premier League clubs will join leading teams from Italy and Spain - AC Milan, Inter Milan, Juventus, Atletico Madrid, Barcelona and Real Madrid.
The ESL said the founding clubs had agreed to establish a "new midweek competition" with teams continuing to "compete in their respective national leagues".
We will help football at every level. Football is the only global sport in the world with more than four billion fans and our responsibility as big clubs is to respond to their desires
It says the opening season will start as soon as practically possibly and expected "a further three clubs will join" the breakaway.
The ESL says it also plans to launch a women's competition as soon as possible after the men's tournament starts.
What has the reaction been so far?
Juventus star Cristiano Ronaldo and Barcelona's Lionel Messi - two of the greatest players of all time - could feature in the ESL
Bad. Really, really bad.
Fifa, the group that runs world football, expressed its "disapproval" of the proposed competition, and has previously said any players involved in it could be stopped from playing at a World Cup.
Uefa, the organisation in charge of European football, said players involved would be banned from all other competitions at domestic, European or world level and could be prevented from representing their national teams.
It released a joint statement with England's Football Association, the Premier League, the Spanish Football Federation, La Liga and the Italian Football Federation, as well as Serie A, saying they will "remain united" in trying to stop the breakaway, using "all available measures".
The league will have 20 teams - 15 founding members plus five sides who qualify annually according to their domestic achievements.
The ESL campaign would start in August each year, with midweek games, and the clubs would be split into two groups of 10, playing each other home and away.
The top three in each group would qualify for the quarter-finals, with the teams in fourth and fifth playing a two-legged play-off for the two remaining spots.
From then on, it would have the same knockout format used in the Champions League before a final in May at a neutral venue.
But the founding 15 clubs would be guaranteed to be in it EVERY year - however well or badly they did in their domestic leagues.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the plans will be "very damaging for football" and France's President Emmanuel Macron welcomed French clubs refusing to join.
Former Liverpool and Tottenham midfielder Danny Murphy told BBC Sport the plans "sound soulless", former Manchester United captain Gary Neville told Sky Sports he was "absolutely disgusted", while former team-mate Rio Ferdinand said on BT Sport that the proposals will hurt fans the most.
In a statement, the ESL said: "Going forward, the founding clubs look forward to holding discussions with Uefa and Fifa to work together in partnership to deliver the best outcomes for the new league and for football as a whole."
If you can't see this vote, click here.
Why now?
German side Bayern Munich - the reigning Champions League winners - have not agreed to join the ESL
Uefa had hoped their plans for a new 36-team Champions League would put clubs off the idea of a Super League.
However, the 12 sides involved in the ESL so far do not think the changes, which are set to be confirmed on Monday, go far enough.
"In recent months, extensive dialogue has taken place with football stakeholders regarding the future format of European competitions," they said.
"The founding clubs believe the solutions proposed following these talks do not solve fundamental issues, including the need to provide higher-quality matches and additional financial resources for the overall football pyramid."
The ESL says it will generate more money than the Champions League and would lead to a greater distribution of money throughout the game.
Do you support one the clubs joining the ESL? How do you feel about this new league? Let us know in the comments here.
What have football fan groups had to say?
Liverpool and Manchester United are the two most successful sides in English football history
The Football Supporters' Association, which represents fans from all UK clubs, said it was "totally opposed to the proposals which seek to create a breakaway European Super League".
"The motivation behind this so-called Super League is not furthering sporting merit or nurturing the world's game - it is motivated by nothing but cynical greed."
Manchester City FC Official Supporters Club said the move showed "those involved have zero regard for the game's traditions".
The Manchester United Supporters Trust said the ESL "goes against everything football, and Manchester United, should stand for".
Football supporters across the world have experienced the ultimate betrayal
Liverpool supporters' group Spirit of Shankly said it was "appalled" by the decision of Fenway Sports Group (FSG), the club's US-based owner.
"FSG have ignored fans in their relentless and greedy pursuit of money. Football is ours, not theirs. Our football club is ours not theirs," it said in a social media post.
The Arsenal Supporters' Trust called the club's agreement to join "the death of Arsenal as a sporting institution".
Tottenham Hotspur Supporters' Trust said the new competition was a "concept driven by avarice and self-interest at the expense of the intrinsic values of the game we hold so dear".