At the time of going to press, Atletico Madrid and Inter Milan has become the latest two teams to pull out of the tournament, joining the six English clubs, Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham and Liverpool, who abandoned the project on 20 April.

Earlier in the week, Portuguese Prime Minister, António Costa hit out at the creation of the European Super League, saying that it should be “rejected without hesitation”, considering that there are principles and values ​​that “cannot be for sale”.
“The proposal for a football competition in the European space organized outside the sector’s representative institutions, namely the Leagues, Federations and UEFA, must be rejected without any hesitation”, said the Portuguese Prime Minister, in a message published on Twitter.

António Costa stressed that he stands side by side with the national and international sports institutions that “vehemently” refuse to accept that the competition will be held, a competition that did not include any teams from Portugal in the initial line up.

“The principles of solidarity and the value of sports results and merit cannot be for sale”, he stressed.

On 18 April, AC Milan, Arsenal, Atletico Madrid, Chelsea, FC Barcelona, ​​Inter Milan, Juventus, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Real Madrid and Tottenham announced the creation of the European Super League, in spite of UEFA, national associations and several other clubs rejecting this proposal.

The competition has been intended to be disputed between 20 clubs, 15 of which were to be the founders - although only 12 were revealed – while another five would qualify annually.

Meanwhile, the governing body of European football has announced the extension of the Champions League from 32 to 36 clubs, starting in 2024/25, in a single league, with five games to be played at home.


Author

Originally from the UK, Daisy has been living and working in Portugal for more than 20 years. She has worked in PR, marketing and journalism, and has been the editor of The Portugal News since 2019. Jornalista 7920

Daisy Sampson