Real Madrid president is "more optimistic than ever" about Super League

It is no secret that, despite winning Champions League more than any other team, Real Madrid is at odds with UEFA. The club has been pushing for a few years for a controversial new project, European Super League (ESL), an alternative competition inspired by basketball's Euroleague, with the top teams in Europe playing more regularly, and set to be streamed for free, attracting new fans with more high-profile games.

The proposal, originally backed by 12 clubs in 2021, was met with criticism by a large portion of fans, clubs, players, as well as FIFA and UEFA. All founding clubs withdrawing except for Real Madrid and FC Barcelona.

Backed by the European Union Court of Justice, who ruled that clubs have the right to propose new European competition formats, nullifying "UEFA's monopoly", ESL's organising body A22 announced that a revival project is in the works.

Super League's founder is also Real Madrid president, Florentino Pérez. And last Sunday, during the club's 2024 Ordinary General Assembly, Pérez talked again about this project, claiming to be "more optimistic than ever", and slammed UEFA again.

Florentino Pérez is back again with Super League

Pérez thinks football is "critically wounded" by many social and economic factors, with "all the major leagues are experiencing significant setbacks" and the new Champions League format not making it any better, as with more games each year, they loose value.

"UEFA has increased the number of inconsequential and unnecessary matches in the European tournaments it organises, disregarding the well-being of football players. And it also created a new tournament: the Nations League. The result is the decline of football, with a calendar and formats devised without taking into account the main stakeholders in the sport: footballers, clubs and fans".

His proposed Super League would instead "prioritises both the well-being of the players and the passion and excitement of the fans".

"The Super League proposal to broadcast football for free, through the Unify platform, is truly innovative. And it aims to apply to football what has already triumphed in the film, series and music industries."