Africa-Press – Ghana. UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has reacted furiously to the news that Juventus chief Andrea Agnelli is pushing ahead with plans to try to launch a new Super League, branding him “the Putin of football”.
Agnelli was a key figure last year when Juventus and 11 other clubs announced plans for a breakaway competition that would have usurped the Champions League, causing uproar across European football.
Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham were all part of the original scheme, but soon backed away following a mass protests from their own fans which forced them all to make public apologies.
AC Milan, Inter and Atletico Madrid were also involved, with the main instigators being Juventus, Barcelona and Real Madrid – who have never given up on the idea.
Now Agnelli is ready to present a new vision for the Super League, which – unlike before – would be an ‘open’ competition with no fixed spots and instead of replacing the Champions League would operate like the Nations League does now – alongside qualifying for the World Cup and European Championship.
However, speaking at the Financial Times Business of Football Summit in London – where Agnelli will reveal the new plans, UEFA chief Ceferin reacted with fury and clearly has little intention of entertaining the proposals.
“Agnelli is a usurper, a dictator, the Putin of football, a man without shame. Not even the war softens him, it’s shameful,” he said.
Ceferin reitetated his threat to ban any team involved in the Super League from the Champions League and Europa League.
“The Super League? It is a nonsense idea,” he continued. “Clubs are free to create their own competition, but don’t expect to compete in UEFA competitions.
“For them, fans are customers. For us, fans are fans. One of the founders of the Super League called me to apologise and now they do it again.
“First they launched a nonsense idea in the middle of a pandemic. Now we are hearing they are launching another Super League in a war. They must live in a parallel world.”
La Liga chief Javier Tebas joined in the attack against Juventus, Real Madrid and Barcelona at the summit in the English capital, adding: “They lie more than Putin!
“I feel humiliated by the idea of relaunching the Super League. These three teams are insulting us.”
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