European Super League revamp on the way? Tebas: ESL creators lie more than Putin

Last year, a dozen prominent European clubs planned for a breakaway competition involving teams from England, Spain and Italy but folded amid a furious backlash from fans, national associations and UEFA. And now, while the war in Ukraine rumbles on, UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has accused club owners of only thinking of themselves with reports suggesting that Barcelona, Real Madrid and Juventus are plotting to relaunch the idea imminently in another direct challenge to UEFA and its Champions League.

The 54-year-old Slovenian took aim at owners of three European giants - especially Juventus chief Andrea Agnelli. Ceferin accused those plotters of trying to bring the Super League idea back using the distraction of the brutal conflict in Ukraine.

Who are the potential buyers of Chelsea: A season ticket holder and the co-owner of the LA Dodgers

UEFA main man spoke at the Financial Times Business of Football Summit in London with Juventus chairman Agnelli sitting in the front row, who was supposed to take the mic later after the Slovenian. A reminder - Agnelli resigned as chairman of the European Club Association (ECA) to start the Super League.

‘I have to say that those speaking about the Super League are not speaking about football. I am sick and tired of this non-football project.' Ceferin said.

‘First, they launched their nonsense of the idea in the middle of a pandemic. Now, we read articles that they are planning to launch another idea now in the middle of a war.

‘Do I have to speak more about these people? They obviously live in a parallel world.

16.03. Wed 23:00: (1.85) Juventus (3.50) Villareal (5.00)

‘We are helping in a terrible situation, they are working on a project like that. They can pay whoever they want to write "this is a nice project, they are full of solidarity, there will be charity to small ones."

‘This is nonsense and everyone knows it. One of them, after it, called me and apologised - but then they go again. For them, the fans are customers. For us, the fans are fans.’

Ceferin added: ‘They criticised UEFA and the ECA, one of them was chairman of the ECA.', addressing Agnelli directly.

‘I have quotes from where he was praising the system a week before they launched the Super League.’

‘They can play their own competition, nobody forbids them. But if they play their own competition, they can’t play in our competition.’ the UEFA chief said as a final warning to the three clubs seeking to revive the Super League.

Joining Ceferin in going at the ESL creators, La Liga chief Javier Tebas has launched a stunning broadside against those clubs who want to revive the European Super League, accusing them of ‘lying more than Putin.’ Tebas, an outspoken critic of the Super League, compared the words of the three clubs to those of the Russian president who ordered the invasion of Ukraine.

‘He [Agnelli] will have to explain it, if he doesn’t explain it, he will be lying,’ Tebas said.

‘A week ago, I think it was in his house there was a meeting of the three teams. Now they are saying they don’t want fixed slots, Real Madrid are saying they don’t want the first slot. It is false.

‘It is very difficult for the English teams to form part of this competition so they are creating a European league with two categories and the national leagues are the second categories.

Wed 23:00: (2.60) Real Madrid (3.40) PSG (2.85)

‘There will be two or three people relegated but there will always be the typical teams - Juventus, Barcelona, Real Madrid. It will be difficult for them to go down.

‘They have made enemies of UEFA and the Premier League, whose growth goes against their model. We know this, we have got this information. They can say what they want but this is what they are working on.

‘Every time I read about it, I get cross, I think they lie more than Putin to be honest.

‘They are insisting that introducing this will not affect national leagues. We must be idiots, we must be dumb. But we all say it hurts the national leagues.

‘For me it is an insult, I feel humiliated. They will do huge harm.’

Here we go again! The shattered idea of European Super League revives under nursery of the mighty trio

Tebas singled out the Real Madrid president Florentino Perez for spearheading the Super League project.

‘Perez already said it, he wanted to be in charge. The rest should not worry, they will give us just the crumbs. That is the Super League in a nutshell, a series of clubs with asset and wealth, they want to dominate the rest.

‘For many years, they have gone along with this line and this is what we have to avoid.’

Ceferin also denied that the reforms to the Champions League under the expanded group stage ‘Swiss Model’ are not a surrogate for a Super League.

‘For anyone to compare the reform of the Champions League with the Super League is not serious,’ he said.

‘We have 32 teams in the Champions League now, the plan is to have 36 with more places for smaller and mid-placed leagues.’

10.03. Thu 23:00: (1.17) Barcelona (8.00) Galatasaray (20.0)

Juventus president Agnelli is expected to outline a second iteration of the Super League imminently and the three clubs are pursuing a legal case against UEFA.

The alleged new format of the ESL will see only ten clubs involved this time - the rumour according to Vozpópuli says that Real Madrid, Manchester City, Manchester United, Juventus, Inter Milan, AC Milan, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Liverpool and Chelsea are all on board once more (north London sides Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur are notably absent)

According to the rumours, the founders have this time decided that the Super League should be an open competition. There is, of course, understandable opposition from many of European football's biggest leaders to the idea of the competition.

RMCSport claim that UEFA are planning to ban all Super League clubs from European competition should the competition go ahead.