Super League sends cease-and-desist letter to Uefa over anti-competitive behaviour

HAMBURG – A22 Sports Management, formed to assist with creating the European Super League, made public on Jan 31 a letter that it sent to European football’s governing body Uefa, asking for the immediate cessation of anti-competitive behaviour.

The decision to publish the letter on social media platform X came after A22 said that Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin “publicly talked about and mis-characterised a letter in which we demand Uefa to comply with EU rules and court rulings and stop ongoing actions aimed to obstruct A22 activities”.

He was speaking at the Spobis sport business congress in Hamburg on Jan 31.

In the letter, sent a day earlier, A22 accused Uefa of anti-competitive behaviour since April 2021, including denigration of its reputation and threatening European clubs to prevent them from considering projects involving A22.

In December, the European Court of Justice ruled that Uefa and Fifa contravened EU law by preventing the formation of a Super League.

But A22 said that Uefa has continued its anti-competitive behaviour.

“Consequently, we hereby demand that Uefa and its executives, with immediate effect, cease and desist from any form of anti-competitive action against A22, its business initiatives, its partners and directors,” the letter said.

A22 also instructed third parties affiliated to Uefa to do the same, adding that it “fully reserves all rights to bring any appropriate steps in all relevant jurisdictions against Uefa, and, as applicable, relevant Uefa executives”.

It remains to be seen what the future holds for the European Super League.

Soon after the European Court of Justice verdict in December, A22 released another proposal for new competitions with 64 men’s and 32 women’s teams playing midweek matches in a league system across Europe.

The proposed format for the men’s competition includes the teams in three leagues – Star, Gold and Blue.

The Star and Gold leagues will have 16 clubs each while the Blue League has 32 clubs.

Teams will play home and away in groups of eight, which would mean a minimum of 14 matches a year.

There will be annual promotion and relegation between leagues, while teams can qualify for the Blue League based on domestic league performance.

The women’s competition would have two leagues of 16 clubs each.

Although the initial Super League project was a closed competition, the new one would see clubs participate based on sporting merit with no permanent members.

The clubs would also stay in their respective domestic leagues.

A22 co-founder Anas Laghrari has reportedly claimed that 20 clubs have agreed to join the breakaway competition.

But the likes of Liverpool, Manchester United, Arsenal, Manchester City, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain have all rejected the opportunity. REUTERS