Report: 7 European Clubs Attempt to Form Breakaway European Super League
What's the story?
According to an explosive report in German publication Der Spiegel, a coalition dubbed the "Big Seven" spent many months secretly working on a proposal to create a private European league. This was done without including the respective national associations and other teams.
The report claims Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Juventus, AC Milan, Manchester United, and Arsenal were involved in these secret meetings.
Der Spiegel conducted an investigation based on documents procured from Football Leaks that has exposed many clubs and players in the past two years - including players who evaded taxes (and were subsequently punished) and Cristiano Ronaldo's alleged rape of a woman in the United States.
According to the documents, such a league would operate over 34 weeks, with fixtures scheduled on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays. There would also be a knockout round once the league phase is complete.
In case you didn't know...
The concept of the European Super League has been in the works for a couple of years now and there were murmurs that it would replace the UEFA Champions League.
Most of the top clubs have been looking to form the Super League in an attempt to earn more revenue compared to what they currently earn in the Champions League's revenue sharing model.
Also read: Does Europe need a Super League to replace the Champions League?
Heart of the matter
The report states that Bayern Munich are the major players trying to push for a new league. The club has been dominant in the Bundesliga having won the last six league titles. But their monopoly in a weaker league has affected their chances of competing in the Champions League as a result and they haven't reached the final since 2013.
Bayern Munich CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, who was the head of the European Club Association (ECA) at the time in 2016 and was supposed to be looking out for the interests of all European clubs, actually kept the majority of them in the dark to discuss this proposal and investigated the possibility of Bayern Munich leaving the Bundesliga.
Also read: Bayern and Rummenigge deny alleged attempt to lead breakaway 'Super League'
A number of legal issues have stalled the formation of the league but UEFA had attempted to quell such an uprising by agreeing to reform the Champions League by 2021 (to coincide with the new rights period) to favour top clubs.
What's next?
In all, 11 clubs could be the founders of the new European Super League and the new competition will not see any relegation for a guaranteed period of 20 years.
The clubs listed are Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City, Liverpool, Juventus, AC Milan, and Paris Saint-Germain.
Furthermore, documents also stated that five "guest clubs" would take part, namely Atletico Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, Inter Milan, AS Roma, and Olympique Marseille.
The documents also state that a decision will be taken in November 2018. Clubs are still in talks with UEFA but if the European Super League is formed, the Champions League will not exist in its current format after 2021.