What is European Super League?

With the recent debacle
around the proposed European Super League (ESL) coming to an end on Wednesday with
all six English clubs pulling out due to furious fans and warnings from both
UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) and FIFA (Fédération
Internationale de Football Association), a current stoppage, for now, appears
to have been imposed on the new format.

Ideated and announced by 12
of Europe’s top football clubs, the ESL is a proposed midweek competition, which
will be governed by its ‘founding clubs’ and will act as a rival to the UEFA Champions
League.

Also read: Six ways to say goodbye: How English clubs announced Super League pull-outs

The clubs in question are:
Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham
Hotspur, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Inter Milan, AC Milan, and
Juventus.

A main feature of the ESL
would be regular matches between the 12 founding members, ensuring revenue as
well as nullifying any chances of not qualifying to later stages.

Post-announcement, there have
been scathing attacks from both governing organisations, fans of the said clubs,
and football fans in general, a large part of which have to do with the fact
that entry to the league will be limited and controlled by these 12 sides, which
can become a barring factor for smaller clubs across Europe.

Also read: European Super League to reshape after clubs withdraw

The European Super League
is backed by investors such as US bank JPMorgan Chase & Co, who have
reportedly already started bankrolling the proposed league with a total of 4
billion Euros, underwriting an initial 3.5 billion Euros to set up the league,
and then the rest for additional payments and expenses.

Significantly, formation of
the league, for now, has taken a blow, with all six of the English clubs:
Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and
Chelsea coming out of the tournament structure due to pressures from fans and authorities.

Also read: Ed Woodward to leave Manchester United amid ESL backlash

“We are reconsidering
the appropriate steps, in order to reshape the project.

We’re proposing a new
competition, because current one isn’t working. English clubs have been forced
to leave, due to outside pressure”, the ESL said in a statement on Wednesday in
response to the exit.