Barcelona's position is one of caution but Super League is necessity, asserts Joan Laporta
Joan Laporta has insisted that the proposal for the breakaway super league still exists despite the withdrawal of several founding clubs. An ambitious project founded by twelve of Europe's biggest clubs, the Super League was supposed to be the future foundation of European football.
Joan Laporta, who was re-elected last month as Barcelona's president to replace Josep Maria Bartomeu, has shown his full support to the breakaway closed league and has described it as a “necessity” for the greater good of world football. He isn't the only one however, with Juventus chairman Andrea Agnelli and Real Madrid's president Florentino Perez doing the same over the last few days.
It saw the Barcelona president admit that the Super League is something that football needs and that the big clubs, who generate a lot of revenue, want to and need to have their own say on how revenue is shared across football.
"We had a position and we still have one and we will explain. The position is one of caution but it [Super League] is a necessity. On the other hand as it should be, our members will have the last word on it," Laporta said, reported Goal.
"It's absolutely necessary that the big clubs, given that we generate a lot of revenue, we want to have the capacity to have our say on the sharing process. And also, we believe that it's important that this is accompanied by an attractive competition based on sporting merit."
The announcement came on last Sunday when 12 of the top football clubs took the world by storm when they announced their decision to create and be a part of an elite Super League, designed to drive more revenues and capture more “young audience”. Following major backlash from fans, players and pundits alike, the clubs were forced to take a U-turn on their decisions as the response was overwhelmingly negative.
Although clubs like Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham, Inter Milan and Atletico Madrid have tendered their resignation, the likes of Barca, Real Madrid and Juventus are still said to be involved and have not given up on the initiative. Laporta further added that the Super League "are the defenders of maintaining local leagues" and just "want to make football better" going forward.
"We are the defenders of maintaining local leagues and therefore, we are always open to dialogue with UEFA. That is the premise. Everyone wants to make football better and have the necessary resources to make it a great spectacle. Because if the big clubs don't have these resources, football will be damaged. There will be institutional harmony and a willingness to think about all this.
"There was a series of pressure which made some clubs pull out or value it in a different way, but the fact is that the proposal still exists but more resources are needed given that we have important investment, we paid important salaries and if we want football to be a spectacle through sporting merits, whoever wants this level of quality to be maintained must take into account what we are proposing," he added.
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