“Breakaway and face immediate expulsion”, Premier League warns big 6 clubs after European Super League saga
The Premier League is expected to change its rules to prevent any future Super League plans from taking place again in future with sanctions likely to include summary expulsion for erring teams.
It has been a whirlwind week for football after 12 clubs from across Europe agreed to become the founding members of a new Super League before 10 of them withdrew just 48 hours later.
Intense criticism from supporters and governing bodies led to the six Premier League clubs involved, including Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham, pulling out.
Those decisions only proved to be the start of the avalanche with all other teams involved – but for Barcelona and Real Madrid – following suit.
By Wednesday, the competition was no longer tenable, despite desperate claims from Real Madrid and Super League president Florentino Perez on Wednesday night.
The plans appear to be dead and buried, and with potential punishment being discussed, the Premier League is now looking to ensure none of its clubs ever try something like this again.
According to a Times report, the Premier League is altering its rules to ensure that any club that agrees to take part in a breakaway league faces ‘immediate expulsion’.
“This will kill off the threat of English clubs joining a European Super League forever,” a source with knowledge of the developments told The Times.
“The big six have used that as their final bargaining chip for years — now it’s worthless.”
The Premier League already had a rule under ‘L9’ which stated that clubs could not take part in any competitions other than those already agreed without ‘written permission from English authorities’.
But amid differing legal interpretations of the rule, the Premier League are now looking to make it explicitly clear so that clubs are not able to attempt this again.
The ‘big six’ are now left in a difficult position after withdrawing from the European Club association and after key executives of the clubs involved were told to leave their positions in the Premier League’s organisational structure.
Barcelona and Real Madrid officials continue to claim the clubs are locked in The Super League for now, and Arsenal chief Josh Kroenke has since confirmed there will be a ‘cost’ for withdrawing.
But it seems that if any of the clubs who want to be involved in a breakaway European Super League competition as well as competing domestically, as was proposed, won’t be doing it in the Premier League.
