Super League: UEFA drops legal action against Juventus, Barcelona & Madrid
Carlo Garganese
- Updated: 28 Sept 2021 09:29 BST
- 4 min read
UEFA has announced that it has dropped legal action against Juventus, Barcelona and Real Madrid for their roles in founding the European Super League.
On 18 April, 12 of Europe’s biggest clubs released a statement indicating that they were forming a breakaway league, though within 72 hours the plan had crumbled.
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Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham were all ‘Founder Members’ from the Premier League who quickly backed away, while Milan, Inter and Atletico Madrid similarly withdrew.
Barcelona, Real Madrid and Juventus – three clubs in financial strife – have since refused to pull out and are still clinging to the possibility of the competition being formed.
This led to UEFA threatening the three teams with legal action and possible suspension from the Champions League.
What did UEFA say?
However, the UEFA Appeals Body has announced that it is no longer suing Juventus, Barca and Madrid.
"Following the stay of proceedings against FC Barcelona, Juventus FC and Real Madrid CF, in the matter related to a potential violation of UEFA’s legal framework in connection with the so called ‘Super League’, the UEFA Appeals Body has declared today the proceedings null and void, as if the proceedings had never been opened."
Juventus, Barca and Madrid had slammed UEFA’s disciplinary proceedings against them, labelling them as a “direct attack against the rule of law”.
What did Barcelona, Juventus and Real Madrid say about UEFA’s legal proceedings?
"FC Barcelona, Juventus FC and Real Madrid CF wish to express their absolute rejection of the insistent coercion that UEFA has been maintaining towards three of the most relevant institutions in the history of football," the three clubs said in a collective statement back in May.
"This alarming attitude constitutes a flagrant breach of the decision of the courts of justice, which have already made a clear statement warning UEFA to refrain from taking any action that could penalise the founding clubs of the Super League while the legal proceedings are ongoing.
"Therefore, the opening of disciplinary proceedings by UEFA is incomprehensible and is a direct attack against the rule of law that we, the citizens of the European Union, have democratically built up, while constituting a lack of respect toward the authority of the courts of justice themselves.
"From the beginning, the Super League has been promoted with the aim of improving the situation of European football, through permanent dialogue with UEFA and with the objective to increase the interest in the sport and to offer fans the best possible show.
"Instead of exploring ways of modernizing football through open dialogue, UEFA expects us to withdraw the ongoing court proceedings that question their monopoly over European football.
"Barcelona, Juventus and Real Madrid, all of them more than a century old, will not accept any form of coercion or intolerable pressure, while they remain strong in their willingness to debate, respectfully and through dialogue, the urgent solutions that football currently needs.
"Either we reform football or we will have to watch its inevitable downfall."
Barcelona are estimated to be €1.3 billion in debt, Juventus required a €400m bailout from their parent company Exor this summer, while Real Madrid’s deficit is also believed to run into the hundreds of millions.
