Following the significant European Super League ruling by the European Court of Justice, Florentino Perez, the president of Real Madrid, proclaimed today a “great day for the history of football.”
The ESL and its supporters, A22 Sports, prevailed in their legal battle against FIFA and UEFA on Thursday morning. It was determined that the organizations had broken the law by trying to prevent clubs from entering the breakaway competition.
Real Madrid was one of 12 major European teams that signed up for the once-doomed project back in April 2021. Supporters, analysts, and players all expressed their disapproval of the project at the time.
Following the competition’s launch, large-scale protests outside Premier League stadiums forced all of Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, and Tottenham Hotspur to pull out of the venture.
Before the Italian giants also ended their involvement this summer out of fear of harsh sanctions, Florentino Perez’s Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Juventus were the only three clubs committed to the plans.Inter Milan, AC Milan, and Atletico Madrid also withdrew from the plans.
The governing bodies FIFA and UEFA had threatened to impose unprecedented sanctions, such as elimination from competitions, on teams hoping to join the Super League; however, the court has now decided that they are “abusing a dominant position.”
Florentino Perez full speech on Super League:
“From Real Madrid we welcome with great satisfaction the decision taken by the Court of Justice of the European Union, which is responsible for guaranteeing our principles, values and freedoms. In the coming days we will carefully study the scope of this resolution, but I do anticipate two conclusions of great historical significance.
First of all, that European club football is not and will never be a monopoly again. And secondly, that from today the clubs will be the owners of their destiny. Clubs see fully recognized our right to propose and promote European competitions that modernize our sport and attract fans from all over the world. In short, today the Europe of freedoms has triumphed again and today soccer and its fans have also triumphed.
Faced with the pressures we have received for more than two years, law, reason and freedom are imposed today. And for this reason, Real Madrid will continue to work for the sake of football.
Just as almost seventy years ago we took a fundamental step in the history of soccer with the creation of the European Cup, today we again have the duty and responsibility to give European football the new impetus it needs so much. And for this, we will continue to defend a modern project, fully compatible with national competitions, open to all, based on sporting merit and that will effectively impose respect for financial fair play. A project that will bring economic sustainability for all clubs and that above all will protect the players and excite fans around the world.
We will do it despite the campaigns we have suffered and that, without a doubt, will intensify from today. But no one said that ending a monopoly after so many decades was simple.
We are facing the great opportunity to improve European club football. A football at the height of the 21st century, with a transparent governance, that knows how to live with new technologies and that once again provokes the passion and emotion that fans really need.
Let me tell the European clubs that we are facing the beginning of a new time in which we can work in freedom from constructive dialogue, without threats, without acting against anything or anyone and with the aim of innovating and modernizing football to continue nurturing the passion of the fans.
From today, the present and future of European football are finally in the hands of clubs, players and their fans. Our destiny belongs to us and we have a great responsibility before us.
This day will mark a before and after. It is a great day for the history of football and for the history of sport”.
