Peace reigns in European football. That has been the line from the institutions that govern the game in light of the end of the Superleague this week, after Barcelona communicated last Saturday they would be leaving the competition, and Real Madrid announced its closure following an agreement with UEFA and the ECA (European Clubs Association).
The decision comes less than five years after the competition was announced, before eventually becoming defunct. For the majority of its lifespan, it included only Real Madrid and Barcelona, and never got off the ground. During that time there have been reforms in UEFA too though, changing the format of the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League, as well as increasing the prize money.
Ceferin: ‘I’m delighted Real Madrid and Barcelona have rejoined the family’
As he opened the UEFA summit, President Aleksander Ceferin called the future of football ‘brilliant’, and highlighted the union and solidarity of its bodies as a major factor in that. He also referenced the deal to end the Superleague.
“I am delighted that Real Madrid and Barcelona have rejoined our family. We had some disagreements with Florentino Pérez, but we never lost mutual respect and we never lost our love for this sport. Only football has won, and no one else. Dear Nasser [Al-Khelaifi], you have been instrumental in everything that has happened,” Diario AS quote.
Nasser Al-Khelaifi – ‘If you think Florentino has lost, you’re stupid’
Ceferin refers there to Al-Khelaifi, CEO of Paris Saint-Germain and the President of the European Clubs Association. He was ebullient after the agreement, and had significant praise for both Real Madrid President Florentino Perez and his Barcelona counterpart Joan Laporta.
“I want to thank everyone, all the parties involved in this historic agreement. To the UEFA president, who does so much every day for European football, the most intelligent and humble leader. And, of course, to Florentino Perez, a very elegant and intelligent man, a visionary, someone who is always trying to push things forward, to improve them. And if anyone says or thinks that he has ‘lost’ today, they are stupid and know absolutely nothing about football. The most important thing here is that we all win, nobody loses,” Marca recount.
“I believe that today President Perez is an even greater and better person, as he has led Real Madrid to do what is most beneficial for European football. Thank you very much, truly, and I appreciate that you have placed your trust in me.”
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“President Laporta has shown great courage and leadership, and he deserves great recognition. In today’s final agreement, dialogue has triumphed over division. I have believed in this peace process for a long time, but this very morning we didn’t know if it would happen or not.”
Real Madrid keen on La Liga salary limits for Champions League
Back in Spain, La Liga President Javier Tebas was keen to paint the end of the Superleague as a defeat for Perez. However during negotiations, it was Perez who reportedly brought up the idea of one of Tebas’ most controversial policies, the La Liga salary limit. Diario AS say that was one of a number of issues brought up by Real Madrid during talks, in a bid to limit ‘certain state-backed clubs’. That was a point of agreement between all three that there should be an effective ‘fair play’ system.
Another point of discussion was ‘putting an end to transfers that only benefit players and agents’. One of the main arguments for the Superleague was the implementation of free-to-air games on bespoke platform, and the use of technology to make football cheaper was another topic, while any hint of closed system, the original concept of the Superleague has been discarded. Notably, while it is said all of these things were discussed during talks, it is not clear what agreements Real Madrid came away with.
