Arsenal along with other English clubs announced their withdrawal from the European Super League after severe backlash, but Florentino Perez claims that the clubs have binding contracts and cannot leave.
The league was officially announced last Sunday with the inclusion of six teams from the Premier League including the North Londoners. However within 48 hours, all of them subsequently went on to announce that they had withdrawn from the league.
Real Madrid president and one of the figureheads of the league revealed that the clubs are lying and they cannot back-out after signing binding agreements. He went on to add that the clubs are still part of the proposed project and are working to reshape it. The president told Diario AS:
“I’m not going to explain now what a binding contract is… But the clubs can’t leave. Some of them, because of pressure, have had to say that they’re leaving. But this project or one like it will go forward, and I hope it’s soon.”
The big reason why all of this caused so much shock was because the very nature of the league would have altered the way we see football. It would have been an exclusive tournament for just 20 clubs without any promotion or relegation which basically means that if a team is not competing for the title, then the club have nothing to do except to playout their remaining games and receive the statutory payment at the end of the season.
Right from the moment the league was announced, there has been criticism from almost everyone in the football community except for the owners who joined the breakaway league. This was made more evident by the protests we have seen at the respective Premier League clubs.
This included one on Friday evening outside the Emirates stadium just before the Everton game. The protests were highly successful with many fans joining in and it would have sent a clear indication to the clubs that fans are no pushovers.
Though fans would have been appeased by the clubs including Arsenal backing off, Perez’s statement suggests that there is more to come. It is clear that the fans don’t want this new league but if those involved decide to go ahead, it will be difficult to stop them. We will know more about the status of this project in the coming days.
