Real Madrid president Florentino Perez on Thursday (April 22) said that plans for a European Super League are 'not dead'.
Follow Us
Real Madrid president Florentino Perez on Thursday said that plans for a European Super League are ‘not dead’. On April 18 (Sunday), twelve clubs confirmed the formation of the new league. However, by Tuesday itself all six Premier League clubs involved had withdrawn from the tournament. Juventus president Andre Agnelli, who spearheaded the move to form the new league, said it ‘cannot go ahead’ now. However, that doesn’t seem to be a view shared by Florentino Perez. Speaking to Spanish radio program El Larguero, he said that none of the clubs have technically left. This is despite Real and Barca currently being the only of the two 12 sides to not withdraw.
“We are going to keep working. We are looking for ways of getting this done. It would be a shame not to get it done,” said Perez.
“I have never seen aggression greater on the part of the president of UEFA and other presidents of La Liga, it was orchestrated, it surprised us all. I have never seen anything like it — insults, threats, as if we had killed someone, killed football.”
Perez also said that “one of the English clubs were never really convinced”, seen by many as a dig at Manchester City. The Citizens became the first side to publicly pull out of the league, with Chelsea soon following suit.
“There was someone in the English 6 clubs who did not have much interest,” the 74-year-old said.
“That started to affect the others, there was fear.”
“I am a bit sad, disappointed. We have been working three years on this project, on fighting the current financial situation in Spanish football. It is easy to understand — you cannot touch La Liga, so you look for more money midweek and the Champions League format is obsolete.
“The problems is they (Aleksander Ceferin) killed us the very next day, with terrible aggression.
The fact that the League didn’t take place was seen by many as a case of fan power triumphing. Fans in England had protested outside of the grounds. Even social media was awash with support for doing away with the league.
However, Perez chose to aim his scope at UEFA and even went on to blame England Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Johnson had stated he would do anything to prevent the league’s launch.
“We have made some mistakes for sure. But they knew what we were going to do, and were waiting for us. Those who do not want to lose their privileges.
“The English Prime Minister said things, then the fans — people wanted to damage us. But when all this passes, and we see the reality, lets see what happens.
“These clubs are going to lose millions of euros, and cannot do that, apart from those in England.
“The founder clubs believed in this project. It is not dead. We will keep working.”
