Florentino Perez: The European Super League will save football

Carlo Garganese

• 12 Nov 2023 14:42 GMT
• 2 min read

Real Madrid president Florentino Perez has renewed calls for the European Super League as he issued a withering attack on UEFA.

Perez played a key role in the attempted construction of a Super League in April 2021.

The planned league dramatically collapsed in less than 48 hours but there are new plans to launch an updated version of the European Super League.

READ MORE: Revealed: When European Super League will start

In February 2023, fresh plans for a new Super League were announced.

The Super League would be a multi-division competition consisting of 60-80 European teams. There would be promotion and relegation, and teams would have to qualify for the league on merit.

There would be a minimum of 14 matches a season. There would also be cost control measures, meaning clubs can only spend only a fixed percentage of their annual football-related revenue on player salaries and net transfers.

READ MORE: Super League: UEFA drops legal action

Perez is once again playing a key role in the construction of the rebranded Super League and he believes it is vital it goes ahead in order to save football.

What did Florentino Perez say?

"Football is suffering an unprecedented institutional crisis," Perez said on Saturday. "At all levels, both in Spain and in Europe. The main problem is that there are a series of managers who act without thinking about the fans. And we are going to continue working so that football can once again inspire the greatest number of fans around the world.

"European football does not belong to the president of UEFA. Spanish football does not belong to the president of LaLiga. Football is nobody's monopoly, because football belongs to everybody. The aim of the Super League is very clear: to offer the best possible club competition.

"We need to impose, once and for all, maximum respect for the rules of financial fair play. To achieve this, we need transparent and modern corporate governance structures that are fit for the 21st century and subject to the principles and laws of the European Union.

"UEFA continues to manage competitions in the same way as 30 years ago. Without innovation, without modernisation, without transparency, without bringing the competition closer to the fans.

"We have seen many examples where large corporations that seemed invincible in their sectors have gone bankrupt because they did not know how to modernise and adapt to the times.

"We therefore hope that on December 21st, when we will hear the decision of the European Court of Justice on this case, it will mark the beginning of a new era for the good of football."

It is reported that the European Court of Justice, which is the EU’s top court, will rule on the legality of the breakaway Super League case against UEFA on December 21.