Know how the nine rebels of the ESL dumped the idea of the European Super League and rejoined the (ECA) European Club Association Membership
European Super League was the only solution all the big clubs could find to tackle the devastating financial effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. It forced the game of football to play behind closed doors with no crowd in the stadium.
The Premier League's 'big six' are among nine Super League founder members who have officially rejoined the European Club Association.
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) August 16, 2021
Meanwhile, all the clubs were facing financial problems in terms of generating matchday revenue enduring heavy losses. However, 12 clubs from England, Spain, and Italy thought of a stupid idea to participate in a replica of the Champions League which could rapidly boost the revenue.
The decision came in as a shock to a lot of football fans who could witness that the big organizations were dealing with pretty big numbers in terms of losses. As a result, the announcement of ESL faced a lot of criticism and scrutiny from fans all around the world.
9 clubs rejoin European Club Association ECA Membership after European Super League Fallout
The ECA is a body that represents the interests of professional football clubs to the UEFA and voices their opinion on issues like this. Meanwhile, 9 clubs which include AC Milan, Inter Milan, Atletico Madrid, Arsenal, Tottenham, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, and Manchester United have rejoined the ECA and have also endured a fine of €15 million ($18 million).
In addition, they will also give up 5% of revenue for one season if they want to play in European competitions in the future. Meanwhile, in order to prevent them from diverting to unauthorized competitions, there will be a fine of €100 million-plus €50 million euros if they breach any other commitments to UEFA.
The ECA called it “a regrettable and turbulent episode for European football” and also acknowledged the clubs’ “willingness to engage actively with the ECA in its collective mission to develop European club football — in the open and transparent interests of all, not the few.”
However, three clubs have not yet given up on the Super League and feel like it is necessary for the survival of big clubs in Europe. It will be interesting to see if the stance of the other 3 clubs will change in the future or they will be kicked out of European competitions.
Juventus, Barcelona and Real Madrid have previously in the last month gone onto release a statement of how they’ll be continuing to pursue plans of going ahead with the Super League. In statements released concurrently, the trio talked about how they were looking to shatter the stronghold UEFA had over European football.
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