UK PRIME MINISTER Boris Johnson will host a round-table discussion with English football’s governing bodies and fans’ groups on Tuesday to discuss the proposed European Super League.
Six Premier League clubs faced a furious backlash yesterday after proposals for a breakaway tournament were tabled.
Ahead of today’s meeting, Johnson promised football fans that he would do everything possible to give the “ludicrous” new league a “straight red”.
Prince William – who is president of the Football Association – was among those who voiced his dismay at the “damage” the plan would do to the national game.
Writing in The Sun, Johnson said he was “horrified” at the implications for clubs up and down the country which had a “unique place” at the heart of their communities.
“It is your game – and you can rest assured that I’m going to do everything I can to give this ludicrous plan a straight red,” he said.
There were protests outside grounds across England on Monday at the scheme put forward by Liverpool, Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham together with six Spanish and Italian clubs.
Fans of both Liverpool and Leeds gathered outside the Yorkshire club’s Elland Road stadium before their fixture last night, while a plane flew overhead with a banner proclaiming “Say No To Super League”.
The plan has been roundly condemned by both the FA and the Premier League while UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has warned that players who take part could be banned from representing their countries in the World Cup and Euros.
It is understood the Premier League has called its other 14 clubs to an emergency shareholders’ meeting on Tuesday morning, to which the six breakaway clubs have not been invited.
There has been widespread anger at the failure of any of the wealthy overseas owners of the clubs involved to come forward to justify the plan, with accusations that it was being driven by greed.
Fans and former players alike lined up to condemn a scheme which they said would create a closed shop of elite teams which would not have to qualify for the competition and could not be relegated.
In the Commons on Monday, Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said that it would be for the football authorities to prevent English clubs from going ahead with the Super League.
But amid condemnation of the proposal from across the political spectrum, he said that if they were unable to do so, the Government would do “whatever it takes”.
He said they were examining every option “from governance to competition law to mechanisms that allow football to take place”.
The plan – which also includes the Spanish sides Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid and Barcelona and Italian clubs AC Milan, Juventus and Inter Milan – has support from investment bank JP Morgan, which will provide debt financing for the competition.
It is understood it will underwrite around $6 billion in loans for teams involved.
It would see the breakaway teams create a competition to rival the Champions League, but it would not feature relegation or promotion.
Teams would play each other in midweek while still competing in their domestic leagues.
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