Breakaway plans in ruins as fan fury prompts rethink

LONDON－The European Super League collapsed before a ball was kicked in the breakaway competition after being abandoned by the six English clubs.

Throughout Tuesday evening, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur deserted the proposal to launch a largely closed midweek competition amid an escalating backlash from their supporters and warnings from the British government that legislation could be introduced to thwart it.

The Super League project was overseen by Real Madrid president Florentino Perez, who also signed up Barcelona and Atletico Madrid in Spain, and Juventus, AC Milan and Inter Milan from Italy. The rival for the UEFA-run Champions League became unfeasible without the six clubs from the world's richest league.

The remainder of the fledgling Super League organization was defiant, blaming "pressure" being applied for forcing out the English clubs and insisting the proposal could yet be revived in some form.

"Given the current circumstances," the Super League said in a statement, "we shall reconsider the most appropriate steps to reshape the project, always having in mind our goals of offering fans the best experience possible while enhancing solidarity payments for the entire football community."

The English clubs heeded the appeals from UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin to remain part of the Champions League, which has a qualification criteria based on performances in domestic leagues.

"I said yesterday that it is admirable to admit a mistake and these clubs made a big mistake," he said. "But they are back in the fold now and I know they have a lot to offer not just to our competitions but to the whole of the European game.

"The important thing now is that we move on, rebuild the unity that the game enjoyed before this and move forward together."

As it became clear Chelsea and City were quitting the Super League, Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson and his teammates posted a message advocating staying within the open European competitions.

Liverpool, which is owned by John Henry's Boston Red Sox investment group, issued a statement thanking those inside and outside the club for "valuable contributions "before making the decision to stick within existing structures.

Henry on Wednesday apologized to fans and manager Jurgen Klopp in a video message. "I'm sorry, and I alone am responsible for the unnecessary negativity brought forward over the past couple of days," Henry said.

Manchester United defender Luke Shaw also went against his club by tweeting his backing of the existing Champions League minutes before United's about-turn.

"We have listened carefully to the reaction from our fans, the UK government and other key stakeholders," said the club owned by the American Glazer family.

Just as the Glazers also own the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Stan Kroenke has the NFL's Los Angeles Rams in his portfolio along with Arsenal. It is the closed models of American sports that were believed to be so appealing to the US owners by offering financial certainty. But they were resisted by fans of English clubs. "It was never our intention to cause such distress, however, when the invitation to join the Super League came, while knowing there were no guarantees, we did not want to be left behind to ensure we protected Arsenal and its future," the north London club said.

"As a result of listening to you and the wider football community over recent days we are withdrawing from the proposed Super League. We made a mistake, and we apologize for it."

Tottenham also gave a detailed explanation for why it signed up before backing away. "We felt it was important that our club participated in the development of a possible new structure that sought to better ensure financial fair play and financial sustainability whilst delivering significantly increased support for the wider football pyramid," Spurs chairman Daniel Levy said.

Chelsea, which is owned by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, said it only joined the Super League group last week.

"We have now had time to consider the matter fully and have decided that our continued participation in these plans would not be in the best interests of the club, our supporters or the wider football community," Chelsea said in a statement hours after its game against Brighton had been delayed by fan protests outside its Stamford Bridge stadium.

The Premier League threatened to sanction the six rebel clubs and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson considered introducing laws to stop them forming a "cartel".

The British government is exploring adopting the 50-plus-1 rule from Germany that gives fans the majority of voting rights to protect clubs from being controlled by private investors.

"Our fan-led review will still happen and I remain convinced of the need for reform," said Britain's Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden. "We must make sure this never happens again."

AP