According to a report, the European Super League has returned as the revamped Unify League.
The original Super League rocked the football world in April 2021 when it was announced as a continental club competition made up of the top sides in Europe, including six Premier League clubs.
Fans were immediately against the idea and launched a number of protests, including Manchester City and United fans joining forces and Red Devils supporters storming Old Trafford and causing a match to be postponed. The Premier League clubs involved were City, United, Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham.
The idea was also criticized by managers and former players and legally challenged, with the aim that clubs planning to participate in the breakaway would be immediately excluded from the UEFA competition.
Currently there are two more teams supporting the proposed competition – Real Madrid and Barcelona – with Madrid president Florentino Perez as chairman of the organization, with Juventus president Andrea Agnelli, Manchester United co-chairman Joel Glazer, Liverpool owner John W Henry and Arsenal. owner Stan Kroenke serves as vice presidents.
It seemed the idea was dead in the water with no serious signs of revival since then, but the revamped Unify League, reported by the Telegraph, could now be the biggest challenge UEFA officials have faced in years .
The new plan is said to pride itself on the idea that the competition could be broadcast freely, unlike current competitions. It would be streamed by a 'Unified' platform via an app, similar to the model used by the likes of Netflix and Amazon.
Subscribers are believed to be able to watch ad-heavy games for free or pay a fee to remove ads.
In the original competition there was the idea that some clubs would automatically qualify each year, although that plan now appears to have been scrapped.
Instead, the intention is that everyone can qualify annually for competitions in the Unify League, in which a total of 96 teams participate. The top two leagues would be called the Star League and the Gold League, with 16 teams in both divisions, divided into two groups of eight.
The third and fourth divisions would be called the Blue League and Union League.
The last eight, consisting of two teams from each of the four groups in the top two leagues, would consist of two-legged quarter-finals, followed by one-legged semi-finals at a neutral venue in the same week as the final.
It is reported that there would then be 14 group stage matches, with the winners playing a total of 18 matches.
The Blue League and the Union League would operate in the same way.
It is run by A22 Sports, a Madrid-based company originally set up to advise the original Super League.
John Hahn, co-founder of A22, said: “We have listened carefully to a wide range of clubs, leagues and fans and believe we have strong support with these changes. We do not expect any public support from clubs at this time, which will logically come after the official recognition of the Unify League.”
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