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The European Super League (ESL) is back. A22 Sports Management have unveiled proposals for a new 64-team competition in the immediate aftermath of a decision by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) that concluded UEFA and FIFA rules banning clubs from participating in breakaway tournaments were contrary to European law.

Clubs from across Europe will be free to participate in the competition, which will include three tiers, promotion and relegation and will be broadcast to viewers around the world. Whether any will ultimately join this rival to the Champions League remains to be seen but they are free to do so after Thursday's decision.

The ESL and its backers claimed that UEFA and FIFA were breaking competition law by threatening them and players with sanctions. The ECJ concluded that this was indeed the case. 

"The FIFA and UEFA rules making any new interclub football project subject to their prior approval, such as the Super League, and prohibiting clubs and players from playing in those competitions, are unlawful," said a statement from the court. 

"There is no framework for the FIFA and UEFA rules ensuring that they are transparent, objective, non-discriminatory and proportionate. Similarly, the rules giving FIFA and UEFA exclusive control over the commercial exploitation of the rights related to those competitions are such as to restrict competition, given their importance for the media, consumers and television viewers in the European Union."

Thursday's decision will be referred back to the Madrid court where the ESL initially opened its case against UEFA. 

In the meantime, A22 have already unveiled plans for a 64-strong men's ESL, split into three tiers: Star League, Gold League and Blue League. The latter will contain 32 teams, the rest split evenly over Star and Gold Leagues. Clubs will be guaranteed a minimum of 14 matches a year in the group stages, after which a knockout round will determine promotion and champions. A women's competition of 32 teams will run along a similar format. The ECJ's ruling would oblige the new ESL to have open qualification criteria and this proposed league does have no permanent measures. A crucial appeal of the initial plans had been the chance to lock in broadcast revenue from consistent matches between big clubs.

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"We have won the right to compete," said Bernd Reichart, chief executive of A22. "The UEFA-monopoly is over. Football is free. Clubs are now free from the threat of sanctions and free to determine their own futures. For fans: We propose free viewing of all Super League matches. For clubs: Revenues and solidarity spending will be guaranteed."

To enact that ambitious plan, A22 propose to launch the "leading direct-to-fan sports streaming platform in the world." Unify will allow supporters from across the planet to watch every game for free with revenue generated from "advertising, premium subscriptions, distribution partnerships, interactive services, and sponsors." 

Speaking after the ruling, Reichart said that beyond Real Madrid and Barcelona there are clubs "who are really interested in our proposal." Naming them, however, would "divide football," he said.

CBS Sports understands that A22 intend to launch their new competition swiftly. No specific timescale has been set but they intend to be playing well before 2030.

"We believe our proposal will create the most exciting football competition in Europe and at the same time create a better, more sustainable football ecosystem, for both the men's and women's game," Reichart said. "It would strengthen clubs with storied histories who are struggling to compete internationally while taking a big step forward in support of the football pyramid.

"Football is the people's game. The current fan experience with multiple TV subscriptions is becoming prohibitively expensive and needs fresh thinking. Other entertainment options are continuously improving their content offerings and football needs innovative ideas especially to attract young fans. We want to take this powerful and amazing competition to fans around the world in a way that provides easy access to the best matches and an unrivaled, cutting-edge fan experience. Putting fans first will accelerate football's unique position as the only truly global sport."

Timeline of events

The ESL originally launched two years ago, but with Thursday's ruling, the story shows no signs of ending quickly. Here's a quick glance at the major updates in the saga.

  • April 18, 2021: The ESL is officially announced with a statement from Liverpool, issued on social media with a simple sentence: "Leading European football clubs announce new Super League competition." Most of Europe's top clubs joined them in the coming hours, with one notable exception -- Paris Saint-Germain.
  • April 19, 2021: UEFA threatens to kick out all of the ESL-bound clubs from current European competition as criticism from nearly every corner of the soccer world pours in.
  • April 20, 2021: The kickoff of a Premier League clash between Chelsea and Brighton is delayed after fans of the London club stage a massive protest. Later that day, Manchester City become the first team to pull out of the competition and a few hours later, the proposed ESL is officially suspended.
  • Dec. 21, 2023: The European Court of Justice rules that FIFA and UEFA cannot currently block the ESL from forming, and so the ESL relaunches with a new format.

Can the new ESL work?

There are, however, significant hurdles still in place for any rival to the Champions League. The ECJ did not rule that UEFA or FIFA are forbidden from organizing their own competitions; the ESL will have to compete with the Champions League. Ultimately, the proposed ESL did not collapse due to the threat of sanctions from the governing body but due to the ferocious reaction of supporters, particularly in England. Any competition would also be subject to licensing procedures too. The ECJ's ruling was based on UEFA's authorization rules at the time of the breakaway in 2021. European football's governing body has since changed them, it noted in its response to the ECJ's decision.

"This ruling does not signify an endorsement or validation of the so-called 'super league'; it rather underscores a pre-existing shortfall within UEFA's pre-authorization framework, a technical aspect that has already been acknowledged and addressed in June 2022," UEFA said in a statement. "UEFA is confident in the robustness of its new rules, and specifically that they comply with all relevant European laws and regulations.

"UEFA remains resolute in its commitment to uphold the European football pyramid, ensuring that it continues to serve the broader interests of society. We will continue to shape the European sports model collectively with national associations, leagues, clubs, fans, players, coaches, EU institutions, governments and partners alike.

"We trust that the solidarity-based European football pyramid that the fans and all stakeholders have declared as their irreplaceable model will be safeguarded against the threat of breakaways by European and national laws."

World football's governing body, FIFA, added, "FIFA will now analyse the decision in coordination with UEFA, the other confederations and the member associations before commenting further. In line with its Statutes, FIFA firmly believes in the specific nature of sport, including the pyramid structure – which is underpinned by sporting merit – and the principles of competitive balance and financial solidarity. Football owes its long and successful history to the above-mentioned principles, which FIFA, the confederations and the member associations will continue to promote in the future, in the interest of all football fans worldwide."

For any competition to be a success, A22 will need to expand its public backers far beyond the current duo of Real Madrid and Barcelona, who have continued to pursue the Super League project. Sources close to A22 say they have received significant private backing from clubs across Europe. However, no club has publicly joined the Spanish duopoly. The British government's imminent Football Governance Bill would give an independent regulator the power to decide whether clubs could compete in breakaway leagues such as the ESL.

The years since its collapse have brought concessions to the clubs who attempted to breakaway including more places in the Champions League, whose Swiss model next season will guarantee more games. Broadcasting revenue from the competition has also swelled to $3.9 billion per season with UEFA hopeful that number will reach $5.5 billion following a wave of new deals in countries including Britain, France and the United States for the 2024-27 cycle (CBS and Paramount+ will broadcast the Champions League in the United States until 2030).

What was the initial Super League and why did it collapse?

In April 2021, 12 clubs from England, Spain and Italy announced the formation of a new continental competition that would be worth in excess of $10 billion to its founder clubs. They, along with three others -- spots that were reserved for Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund -- would be afforded permanent status in the competition with five further spots to be given out based on sporting merit.

Within 48 hours of its announcement, however, the Super League had collapsed in a hail of fan fury. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson threatened to drop a "legislative bomb" on the six Premier League representatives (Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham), who swiftly withdrew amid widespread supporter protests. AC Milan, Inter and Atletico Madrid departed soon after and although Juventus, whose then chief executive Andrea Agnelli had been one of the competition's leading proponents, clung on for a time they began to distance themselves from plans amid the plusvalenza scandal.