'Alternative reality’: European Super League’s new vision greeted with scorn

Football Supporters’ Association and group of 245 clubs hit out at new plans

File photo dated 19-04-2021 of Leeds United players wearing 'Football Is For The Fans' shirts

A new 10-point manifesto for the resuscitation of a European Super League has again united the established powers in football, this time in derision. Described variously as a “twitching corpse”, a dispatch from “an alternative reality” and a wolf with “big eyes and big teeth”, the proposals, which claim to have rectified the issues that brought down the ESL in 2021, have been given short shrift.

That a new plan exists, based on “stakeholder dialogue” with European clubs, is undeniable. It is being driven by A22, a consultancy hired by the Super League company which has three of European sport’s biggest names – Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus – behind it. Whether an act of desperation or the start of a second, less confrontational, campaign in a long war remains to be seen.