Super League president Florentino Perez: “It’s over. Their monopoly is over. It’s time for a new era.” | OneFootball

The European Super League. It is currently the hottest topic in the world of football, and amidst all the discussions, current Real Madrid president -and upcoming Super League president- Florentino Perez has answered some questions to El Chiringuito.

“Everything I do, I do it for the good of football. 40% of young people aren’t interested in football, because there are too many games of low quality. And we had to adapt,” said Perez.

It is true that top clubs are having a hard time financially, especially due to the pandemic which has caused all sorts of revenues to drop.

“We have created the Super League to save football. If you win the Champions League, you will receive €120-130M from UEFA. But, with the Super League we will earn much more.

“Even in the Premier League, if the top clubs are economically stronger, the others will also become stronger. It is a consequence. We want to have a dialogue with UEFA. As we proposed in the Super League, we want to save football.

“When you have no other revenue, apart from broadcasting rights, you have to find a solution to create more attractive games that allow fans from around the world to see the big clubs playing against each other. The Super League will generate more money. It’s more attractive,” added Perez on the situation.

One of the biggest criticism was the fact that some teams – such as Tottenham – were granted access to the new league without success, and that smaller teams would not be able to make it into the competition.

Perez said: “The Super League is like the Champions League. It is not a closed league. That’s totally false. It’s an open league that any good team can reach, regardless of their name.”

Very recently, UEFA had released an official statement in which the association told that teams that participate in the Super League, would be banned from the Champions League. According to Perez, however, that will not happen:

“No, no teams will be kicked from their domestic leagues either. It is all empty threats. Madrid will continue in this edition of the Champions League as scheduled.

“Football needs to be more attractive globally. Games like Manchester vs. Barcelona will be better than Manchester vs. a smaller team.”

Perez continued: “In the statement, we have said that we want to speak with UEFA. Nobody understands the new format of the Champions League, but it doesn’t generate enough to save football either.”

“It’s over. Their monopoly is over. It’s time for a new era.”

Earlier today, UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin had described the presidents behind the new initiative as ‘snakes’, to which Florentino Perez also had his word:

“President Ceferin insulted Andrea Agnelli today, and it is not possible [for this to continue]. It’s crazy to address a president of a club like Juventus like that. This is unacceptable. UEFA must change.”

The football world is overall unhappy about the initiative, as they believe it damages the spirit of the beautiful game. However, it looks like there is no going back from here for the founding clubs of the new league. It remains to be seen whether Perez could reach an agreement with UEFA and the domestic leagues.

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