https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/67202993 The European Court of Justice will deliver its final verdict on the validity of the European Super League on 21 December. It had been claimed by the ESL and its backers, A22, that Uefa and Fifa were breaking competition law by threatening to sanction clubs and players who joined the breakaway league. But in a report released last December the ECJ said the rules of football's European and world governing bodies were "compatible with EU competition law". A final outcome was expected from the ECJ's 15-strong Grand Chamber in the spring but this did not materialise. The ruling in December will be a binding interpretation of European Union law, and once handed down, the case will then be referred back to the Madrid commercial court that will apply it to the facts of the Super League case.
I just read that UEFA will sell CL final game to UAE in order to get money to prevent teams from joining Superleague.
I trully hope so and I believe Čeferin will not allow it, but who knows? There is too much talk regarding Arabs lately. https://okdiario.com/deportes/uefa-...i-llevara-final-champions-antes-2030-11970104 it is in Spanish
Thank you. "The highest body of European football will receive an amount of 2.4 billion dollars for the television rights, sponsorship and hosting of its competitions and which will have its climax with the celebration of the final of the Champions League of the 2029-2030 season in Abu D[h]abi ."
This is the advice on which the 15 judges will deliver the verdict on the 21st this month. https://curia.europa.eu/juris/document/document.jsf?docid=268624&doclang=EN OPINION OF ADVOCATE GENERAL RANTOS delivered on 15 December 2022 (1) Case C‑333/21 European Superleague Company SL v Unión de Federaciones Europeas de Fútbol (UEFA), Fédération internationale de football association (FIFA), interveners: A22 Sports Management SL, Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional, Real Federación Española de Fútbol
https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/european-super-league-new-a22sports-31687601.amp Decision imminent on new 80-club European Super League that would scrap Champions League A revamped idea of the failed European Super League plot is being led by sports development company A22 Sports and will be heard in court this week as they bid to get their project off the ground The Champions League could be replaced if an ambitious new European Super League project goes ahead(Getty Images) By Simon Mullock 13:38, 16 Dec 2023 They desperately keep on trying.
An interesting complication is the case Royal Antwerp has, which is due too tomorrow iirc. They challenge the UEFA rule a club should have 8 players from their own academy or from their own country, because it disadvantages clubs in smaller countries with a smaller "pond". The advisor in that case, attorney general Maciej Szpunar, to the ECJ is more critical to the UEFA and it's role in it. According to the Pole, conflicts of interest are inevitable and UEFA will put its own commercial interests ahead of the public interest when it comes down to it. One weak point in this highlighted argument is the fact UEFA isnot an independant body with own interests. It's a membership union, which promotes the interests of the members and all profits go to those member associations and clubs. So there's no conflict between public (=clubs) and UEFA. They are the same.
Nope, don't pretend you didnot read what was behind that UEFA reaction. Those socalled breakaway clubs wanted to do an exclusive tournement in competition with the CL, while they stayed in the leagues because it wasnot sustainable to go al the way down the breakaway path. So they wanted to syphon off the lucrative CL billions , which for a great part are redistributed among the FA's and non-playing clubs, while as a bunch of leaches be kept alive in the leagues. Nobody can keep them from going rogue completely, but that's not what they want, they want to be parasites.
Well they're doing a pretty good job. Chelsea, Man City and Real Madrid and will get Ajax's annual payroll each just to show to up at the 2025 Club World Cup.
So, hang on, they're talking about an EXTRA mid-week competition as WELL as the super-league or is that what they're now talking about as the super-league? I see they're now saying there WILL be pro/rel but then, where is the money coming from to pay for all this as I thought they were talking about the clubs paying to join this new thing last time. Also, more generally, how is this being funded as all the matches are going to screened for free to everyone I thought. It all just looks a nit half-baked, tbh.
# tactiq.io free youtube transcript # A22's proposal for a new European club football competition # https://www.youtube.com/watch/HxJZk01R_Xo 00:00:07.080 [Music] 00:00:12.500 [Music] 00:00:25.050 [Music] 00:00:44.140 [Music] 00:00:58.920 he 00:01:02.310 [Music] 00:01:04.599 good afternoon everyone and welcome my 00:01:07.240 name is Roberta pasui and I will be 00:01:09.600 moderating today's presentation from a22 00:01:13.000 Sports we have exciting things to 00:01:15.520 discuss following the landmark ruling of 00:01:17.960 the European court of justice this 00:01:19.759 morning I am pleased to be joined by 00:01:22.479 burn reard COO of a22 he will spend the 00:01:26.799 next uh 20 to 30 minutes or so a 00:01:29.920 explaining their new proposal for 00:01:31.560 changing European football at the 00:01:33.880 conclusion of his remarks we will take 00:01:36.079 questions from journalists but first let 00:01:38.520 me do a quick presentation a22 Sports is 00:01:41.920 a company that was formed to assist in 00:01:44.000 the development and introduction of the 00:01:46.360 European Super League burnt was 00:01:48.840 appointed CEO of the company in late 00:01:51.840 2022 prior to that time he was COO of 00:01:55.920 RTL of deutchland burn hi can you 00:02:00.280 explain why today is a special day thank 00:02:03.960 you Roberta and welcome everyone indeed 00:02:07.520 there is big news today and that news is 00:02:11.000 that football is free free from the 00:02:14.480 Monopoly of HFA free to pursue the best 00:02:17.720 ideas without fear of sanctions and 00:02:20.400 under our proposal free fee of all life 00:02:24.680 matches but more on that later let's 00:02:28.160 start with the ruling this morning the 00:02:31.120 European court of justice ended with us 00:02:33.680 near 70-year Monopoly by determining 00:02:37.560 that FIFA and uea's rules on prior 00:02:40.959 approval of interclub competitions are 00:02:44.040 contrary to European Union 00:02:47.680 law they have also determined that FIFA 00:02:50.879 and WFA rules making any new interclub 00:02:54.080 project subject to their prior approval 00:02:57.720 are pro and prohibiting clubs and 00:02:59.879 players from those playing those 00:03:02.200 competitions that they are also 00:03:05.440 unlawful the court has effectively 00:03:09.159 opened the door to innovation in 00:03:12.040 football and clubs can now openly 00:03:14.360 discuss and consider proposals to 00:03:17.159 address the sports most pressing issues 00:03:20.480 the ecj is the highest court in the 00:03:22.720 European Union and therefore this rules 00:03:26.000 cannot be and this ruling cannot be 00:03:28.680 appealed and it paves the way for the 00:03:31.879 creation of a new more exciting 00:03:35.239 competition at European level in which 00:03:37.439 clubs can determine their own future all 00:03:41.879 within the existing European football 00:03:44.439 family so again the strongest message 00:03:48.040 today goes out to the fans football is 00:03:53.000 free well thank you Burns so with the 00:03:56.519 judgments now in hand what can you tell 00:03:58.519 us about A2 22 proposals for new crossb 00:04:01.879 competition in Europe well I think the 00:04:04.840 first thing to understand is that the 00:04:07.120 new proposal is the result of an 00:04:09.400 extensive dialogue over the past 18 00:04:11.720 months with many many people involved in 00:04:14.640 football this includes clubs players 00:04:17.560 fans leagues media Executives and 00:04:21.079 government officials in other words a 00:04:24.280 really big group and while there is 00:04:26.919 clearly more to do this proposal has 00:04:29.400 been shaped with the input from clubs of 00:04:32.600 all sizes big small and in between we 00:04:37.240 learned during our discussions that 00:04:39.280 there is a great consistency infused 00:04:41.560 around the issues facing the sport 00:04:44.120 perhaps at the top of the list is a 00:04:46.479 clear view that the existing European 00:04:49.120 Club competitions are not grabbing fans 00:04:51.880 attention there are simply too many 00:04:55.120 inconsequential matches where there is 00:04:57.840 little interest and you you can see this 00:05:00.120 in the fee statistics in fact it is only 00:05:03.199 in the final stage in the spring when 00:05:05.479 interest 00:05:07.080 Peaks young fans who are digital natives 00:05:10.520 with many entertainment options in 00:05:12.600 particular are turning away so we 00:05:16.039 believe and we've been told that fresh 00:05:19.039 thinking is needed the Cornerstone of 00:05:22.120 our proposal Remain the 10 principles 00:05:24.960 which we published last February 00:05:27.800 critically a couple of those those 00:05:29.759 principles are worth repeating 00:05:32.360 participation will be based on sporting 00:05:34.720 Merit there will be no permanent members 00:05:37.759 and clubs will remain committed to their 00:05:40.880 domestic leagues so now let's have a 00:05:43.919 look at the proposed new format an 00:05:46.319 overview video will help explain both 00:05:48.720 the men's and the women's 00:05:53.000 competition a22 wants to create the 00:05:55.600 world's most exciting Club football 00:05:58.080 competition our proposal aims to ensure 00:06:00.880 competitive tension throughout the year 00:06:03.560 it's an open system featuring promotion 00:06:05.680 and relegation and two stages a league 00:06:08.800 stage and a knockout 00:06:11.759 stage the European men's Super League 00:06:14.360 will have 64 participating clubs divided 00:06:17.960 into three leagues Star Gold and blue 00:06:21.599 the star league consists of 16 clubs 00:06:24.039 divided into two groups of 00:06:26.000 eight it's the same for the gold league 00:06:28.720 16 Club CLS two groups of eight the blue 00:06:31.599 League will have 32 clubs split into 00:06:33.880 four groups of eight during the league 00:06:36.080 stage clubs play each other within their 00:06:38.080 groups home and away that's 14 matches 00:06:41.400 per Club each season seven at home seven 00:06:44.440 away the top four clubs in each group of 00:06:47.000 the star and gold leagues and the top 00:06:49.120 two clubs in each group of the blue 00:06:50.960 League will qualify for The Knockout 00:06:53.000 rounds starting with the 00:06:55.039 quarterfinal the quarter and semi-final 00:06:57.800 consist of a two-legged knock knockout 00:06:59.720 round Home and Away the final will be 00:07:02.560 played on neutral ground The Knockout 00:07:05.160 round finals winners will be the blue 00:07:07.560 League Gold League and star League 00:07:10.479 champions our proposal is built around 00:07:13.120 sporting Merit promotion relegation and 00:07:16.479 exit from the competition happen each 00:07:18.879 season the club finishing at the bottom 00:07:21.240 of each group of the star league will be 00:07:23.560 relegated and replaced by the two gold 00:07:25.960 league finalists the same system applies 00:07:28.840 in the gold League the last Club of each 00:07:31.520 group will be relegated and replaced by 00:07:34.520 Blue League finalists in The Blue League 00:07:37.759 20 out of the 32 clubs will leave the 00:07:40.319 competition all together and be replaced 00:07:43.000 by clubs depending on their domestic 00:07:44.879 League 00:07:45.720 performance this system ensures mobility 00:07:48.199 within and across leagues and as matches 00:07:51.280 will be played midweek this format is 00:07:53.800 completely compatible with domestic 00:07:56.080 leagues this proposed format for 00:07:58.159 football will guarant guarantee openness 00:08:00.960 competitive tension and success based on 00:08:03.520 sporting Merit it is one competition for 00:08:06.759 all clubs all players and all 00:08:10.980 [Music] 00:08:13.199 fans so okay it's open it's competitive 00:08:18.280 I think that gives a quite good summary 00:08:20.520 of what you're proposing for men but 00:08:22.919 what about the women's 00:08:25.080 competition as you will see in uh the 00:08:27.639 next video the women's league is very 00:08:30.280 similar but of course it takes into 00:08:32.799 consideration and it is adapted to the 00:08:35.440 current stage of the development of the 00:08:37.479 women's game so let's have a 00:08:40.039 look our proposal will double the amount 00:08:42.880 of showcased European women's football 00:08:45.279 clubs and unite them into a single 00:08:48.040 competition the European women's Super 00:08:50.480 League boasts 32 clubs divided into two 00:08:54.519 leagues star and gold the star league 00:08:57.839 consists of 16 clubs divided into two 00:09:00.240 groups of eight it's the same for the 00:09:02.440 gold league 16 clubs two groups of eight 00:09:06.360 during the league stage clubs play each 00:09:08.720 other within their groups home and away 00:09:12.000 that's 14 matches per Club each season 00:09:15.160 seven at home seven away the top four 00:09:18.160 clubs in each group of the star N Gold 00:09:20.320 leagues will qualify for The Knockout 00:09:22.320 round starting with the 00:09:24.399 quarterfinal the quarter and semi-final 00:09:27.079 consists of a two-legged knockout round 00:09:30.000 home Anda the final will be played on 00:09:32.880 neutral ground The Knockout round finals 00:09:36.000 winners will be the gold league and star 00:09:38.360 League 00:09:42.760 champions in the star league two clubs 00:09:45.200 will be relegated and replaced by the 00:09:47.160 two gold league finalists in The Gold 00:09:49.680 League four clubs will exit the 00:09:51.519 competition and be replaced by other 00:09:53.519 clubs depending on their domestic League 00:09:55.800 performance this system ensures mobility 00:09:58.360 within and across cross leagues Enders 00:10:00.760 matches will be played midweek this 00:10:03.079 format is completely compatible with 00:10:05.000 domestic leagues this proposed format 00:10:08.040 will guarantee 00:10:09.320 openness competitive tension and a new 00:10:12.560 era for Women's Club 00:10:14.399 football it is one competition for all 00:10:17.120 clubs all players and all 00:10:21.839 fans okay so twice has many showcased 00:10:25.959 Women's Club that definitely struck me 00:10:29.399 yeah let me add a few additional details 00:10:32.399 football is the only truly Global Sport 00:10:36.000 with fans in the billions around the 00:10:38.440 globe there is nothing like it and 00:10:41.480 Europe is the home of football it's 00:10:43.760 where the game was invented and it's 00:10:46.560 also the home of the leading clubs in 00:10:49.360 the world the challenge is and working 00:10:53.079 with clubs and others whether the best 00:10:55.680 sporting competition in the world can be 00:10:58.320 created we believe it can be and that is 00:11:02.240 the objective of this 00:11:04.680 initiative and but how would the format 00:11:07.839 serve that 00:11:09.360 goal the format youve just seen would 00:11:12.200 achieved many things first it will lead 00:11:15.440 to fantastically exciting matches 00:11:17.680 throughout the entire year not just part 00:11:20.279 of the year a league system with just 14 00:11:23.399 matches means that absolutely every 00:11:25.920 match 00:11:27.240 counts Club clubs that almost never play 00:11:30.920 each other will now compete regularly on 00:11:34.360 the European stage and generating even a 00:11:37.120 greater rivalry at the same time there 00:11:39.959 is mobility between the leagues with 00:11:42.040 promotion and relegation and with an 00:11:44.240 ongoing strong connections to domestic 00:11:46.920 leagues and finally there would be an 00:11:50.560 incredible season end knockout stage we 00:11:54.519 think this proposal is fan Centric it's 00:11:57.519 exciting and it's capable of achieving 00:12:00.279 what is admittedly a very ambitious goal 00:12:04.680 and very well uh you have also proposed 00:12:07.600 a league structure as opposed to the 00:12:09.680 current structure of the Champions 00:12:11.360 League can you talk about that yeah in 00:12:14.279 our in our discussion with clubs we 00:12:16.560 identified two big issues the first 00:12:19.040 issue was that clubs can perform 00:12:21.399 extremely well at European level yet 00:12:23.800 still not be in the same competition in 00:12:26.000 the subsequent year this is feuded as 00:12:29.000 unfair and not consistent with the 00:12:31.600 concept of sporting Merit second clubs 00:12:35.040 cannot make commitments to players to 00:12:37.440 infrastructure to the women's games and 00:12:40.680 other expenditure just because under the 00:12:43.000 current system the vast majority of 00:12:45.279 clubs cannot rely on income from Europe 00:12:49.600 accordingly they struggle to retain top 00:12:52.320 players they struggle to compete 00:12:54.680 consistently at European level and they 00:12:57.480 struggle domestically where there are 00:12:59.600 huge imbalances in the relative value of 00:13:02.560 media rights between the large countries 00:13:04.800 and the small countries in Europe we 00:13:07.160 think a league structure will go a long 00:13:10.240 way towards solving those problems while 00:13:13.519 at the same time delivering 00:13:15.760 opportunities for a higher level of 00:13:18.199 football for players and for 00:13:21.160 fans and can you also explain has how 00:13:24.720 clubs get promoted Into the Blue League 00:13:28.000 the process of promoting is obviously a 00:13:30.360 very critical element of the format and 00:13:33.079 at this point more work and dialogue 00:13:35.600 with clubs and league is necessary to 00:13:37.920 work out on the precise details mhm I 00:13:41.480 understand you want to build this 00:13:42.959 project together with clubs absolutely 00:13:46.040 what we can say is that promotion should 00:13:48.480 be equally open for all leagues and it 00:13:52.160 should be determined based upon club's 00:13:54.959 domestic performance so more on that to 00:13:57.639 come Roberta Fant fantastic then and 00:14:00.399 also in your opening remarks you 00:14:02.040 mentioned your proposal includes viewing 00:14:04.519 all life matches for free how would that 00:14:08.480 work well fan access to the fee of live 00:14:12.240 football matches has become for some 00:14:14.720 prohibitively expensive we are leaving 00:14:18.399 way too many fans behind we want to 00:14:22.120 change this this is a unique opportunity 00:14:24.959 to rethink how football is presented to 00:14:28.360 the F and connecting them with their 00:14:31.040 favorite clubs and players just like 00:14:33.639 never before well that's never before 00:14:37.079 means well a22 proposes to create UniFi 00:14:42.480 a direct to Fan streaming platform which 00:14:45.199 would be the place that fans turn to to 00:14:48.480 enjoy their passion for football to 00:14:50.639 connect with their clubs and favorite 00:14:52.480 players to find the latest news and most 00:14:55.440 importantly to view live matches for 00:14:59.199 free this concept applies equally to 00:15:02.279 both the men's and the women's game with 00:15:05.240 the women's games and the women's 00:15:07.079 matches given the same visibility and 00:15:10.199 accessibility as the man's this is a 00:15:13.320 critical boost women's football needs to 00:15:16.440 continue to grow and to develop this 00:15:19.160 next video will help explain what I 00:15:24.399 mean in recent years live football 00:15:27.160 matches have been delivered to f in the 00:15:29.240 same way maybe through pay TV 00:15:31.519 subscriptions this approach has allowed 00:15:33.759 fans throughout the world to view 00:15:35.120 matches in the comfort of their homes 00:15:38.120 however technology has evolved and how 00:15:40.040 we watch football at home needs to 00:15:41.759 evolve as well digital platforms and 00:15:44.279 social media have fundamentally altered 00:15:46.399 the way we enjoy movies series and Sport 00:15:50.000 at the same time the cost of football 00:15:51.839 has become too expensive for many fans 00:15:54.040 and often two or three subscriptions are 00:15:56.279 needed to see all matches football needs 00:15:58.839 fresh thinking it's time to bring all 00:16:01.319 fans billions of them back to the game 00:16:04.360 introducing UniFi our proposal to create 00:16:07.480 a single direct to Fan streaming 00:16:09.800 platform offering all Super League 00:16:11.880 matches and highlights for free 00:16:13.959 supported by advertising this platform 00:16:16.440 will be available around the world and 00:16:18.319 fans will enjoy the best football for 00:16:22.279 free 00:16:24.639 UniFi well that is the Fantastic Vision 00:16:28.120 though ambitious I am sure many people 00:16:31.560 are wondering how can you do this well 00:16:35.560 let's start with the technical aspect If 00:16:38.959 This Were 10 or 15 years ago it would be 00:16:41.720 very challenging but infrastructure and 00:16:44.720 software needed for streaming at scale 00:16:47.759 has developed enormously in recent years 00:16:50.600 and we have been in discussion with some 00:16:52.279 of the leading technology suppliers in 00:16:54.399 the world developing this 00:16:56.480 proposal okay so let's go on the 00:16:59.480 business side how can you offer the best 00:17:02.120 football for 00:17:03.439 free well on the commercial side the 00:17:06.199 answer is straightforward first free 00:17:09.199 football would bring billions of fans to 00:17:11.880 UniFi for a streaming platform this 00:17:14.720 would be 00:17:16.280 unprecedented in the advertising World 00:17:18.439 which was my life for many many years 00:17:20.880 the reach of UniFi will be very 00:17:22.799 attractive to advertisers by the way I 00:17:25.599 should note we are not doing anything 00:17:28.480 which hasn't been done before in some 00:17:30.600 way our proposal is following the lead 00:17:34.039 of the best smartest most forward 00:17:36.679 looking companies in the entertainment 00:17:38.400 world and it's clear it's absolutely 00:17:41.679 clear where they are going those who 00:17:45.000 began free like meta or Spotify or in 00:17:48.240 the US Hulu now have pay options free of 00:17:52.520 advertising those who began with only 00:17:55.240 pay subscriptions like Netflix and 00:17:57.200 others are now in including ad supported 00:18:00.520 Alternatives so one of the key aspects 00:18:04.120 in the enormous reach is the enormous 00:18:06.159 reach is bet the best football to have 00:18:08.440 around the world yeah when you are when 00:18:11.480 you are able to connect billions of 00:18:13.600 people as Google does as meta does and 00:18:16.600 as UniFi has the potential to do you are 00:18:20.280 convinced that the value will 00:18:22.480 follow and the key thing here is that 00:18:25.120 all these companies are effectively 00:18:27.120 streaming companies this provides 00:18:29.640 enormous flexibility not only in 00:18:31.559 offering both advertising and 00:18:33.480 subscription based options but also the 00:18:36.799 ability to provide new features and 00:18:39.039 interactive options who are which are 00:18:41.840 constantly evolving and this will be 00:18:44.840 great for fans finally don't forget and 00:18:48.480 this is really important UniFi can count 00:18:51.440 on the US huge Advantage which is the 00:18:54.440 best the most compelling sport 00:18:56.799 competition in the world world the best 00:18:59.880 football clubs and the best football 00:19:01.840 players and the only sport that appeals 00:19:04.559 to fans across all 00:19:06.960 continents on a different note we 00:19:09.600 clearly understand that this approach is 00:19:11.520 new to football and it's new to clubs 00:19:13.840 they may want to know that it works 00:19:16.960 financially before joining up which 00:19:19.200 makes sense so we will have support 00:19:22.640 which will provide a safety net 00:19:24.600 guaranteeing revenues and solidarity 00:19:27.400 payments during during the first 3 years 00:19:30.000 of the new competition at a level beyond 00:19:33.280 that expected in the next cycle okay but 00:19:37.640 would you do it all of these on your own 00:19:40.440 and who would own Oni well no of course 00:19:43.520 we would not do this on our own existing 00:19:46.480 broadcasting and distribution Partners 00:19:48.600 would continue to play a crucial role in 00:19:51.360 many many countries and from an 00:19:53.760 infrastructure perspective partners and 00:19:56.600 suppliers will be necessary Neary to 00:19:58.720 provide the technology needed to bring 00:20:01.200 the live matches to fans but again this 00:20:04.640 aspect of streaming has changed 00:20:06.200 dramatically over the years and there 00:20:08.000 are many Advanced providers for these 00:20:10.720 kind of 00:20:11.640 services in terms of who will own UniFi 00:20:15.480 it will be the participating clubs in 00:20:18.559 combination with valuated thirdparty 00:20:20.799 investors who can help develop the 00:20:23.400 platform and assist in managing the 00:20:26.240 ongoing operations thereafter 00:20:29.120 it's also important to note that 100% of 00:20:32.520 the Super League net income will be 00:20:34.720 distributed each year to participate in 00:20:37.919 clubs just one last question before we 00:20:41.120 open for question from the media what 00:20:43.720 happens now what are your next steps 00:20:46.880 well we will continue and expand our 00:20:49.720 dialogue with the football stakeholders 00:20:51.559 to explain and to further develop this 00:20:54.159 proposal we don't pretend to have all 00:20:56.559 the answers but we do have have the 00:20:58.960 benefit of years of effort examining and 00:21:01.919 analyzing the problems along with 00:21:04.360 potential 00:21:05.679 Solutions but in the end this process 00:21:08.120 will led by will be led by clubs who in 00:21:11.360 the interest of their fans their players 00:21:13.559 and their leagues will decide what makes 00:21:16.600 sense for them well thank you thank you 00:21:20.080 very much burn now it's the time to 00:21:22.679 answer some questions and please notice 00:21:25.679 that we cannot answer every question and 00:21:28.159 this live stream but our team will come 00:21:30.559 back to everyone of you with an answer 00:21:33.200 so I've got the first one which is from 00:21:35.600 uh Jimmie Garner from PA media MH you 00:21:39.320 have won the right to compete but how 00:21:41.960 will you convince clubs to join can you 00:21:44.559 announce who is on 00:21:46.760 board well our proposal has to be 00:21:49.440 convinced and convincing um and we 00:21:52.159 invite clubs to shape and to help shape 00:21:54.799 this proposal um and we want to reach as 00:21:58.039 as many as as clubs as possible to shape 00:22:00.559 and to contribute there are clubs who 00:22:03.200 are really interested in our proposal 00:22:05.760 and to learn more uh and to contribute 00:22:08.279 but now dropping uh clubs would divide 00:22:11.320 football we don't want to divide 00:22:13.000 football we want to unite football and 00:22:15.320 everybody makes uses the opportunity of 00:22:18.000 today's historic day to lead football 00:22:20.559 into a new era thank you and the next 00:22:24.600 one is from niaer from RMC report are 00:22:29.039 you reaching out your hands to WEA today 00:22:32.400 we reached out our hands to everybody in 00:22:34.960 the football Family actually what we 00:22:36.880 have done over the past 18 years have 00:22:38.559 been a dialogue conducting um and and 00:22:41.919 embracing everybody who wants to discuss 00:22:44.320 about the problems discuss about 00:22:46.200 potential Solutions and that included 00:22:48.360 waer um I was actually traveling there 00:22:50.640 last year and I'm happy and open to do 00:22:52.720 so again well that's fantastic the next 00:22:55.919 one is from David alvare uh from elpis 00:22:59.440 in uh 2021 when the Super League was 00:23:02.120 presented it was financed by JP Morgan 00:23:05.039 with 4,000 Millions Euros for 23 years 00:23:09.200 how much does the project have right now 00:23:11.320 who is financing it and under which 00:23:13.880 conditions well now financing is 00:23:16.039 probably more focused um on UniFi um we 00:23:21.320 explained and shared our vision for a a 00:23:24.400 unique platform a fan Centric streaming 00:23:26.760 platform that brings together the clubs 00:23:28.919 and fans like it was never done before 00:23:31.480 and with reaching a number of of 00:23:33.919 billions of fans unprecedented also 00:23:36.240 because it is a very attractive free 00:23:38.480 offer to watch live matches so it is it 00:23:41.200 is investors will back us on the 00:23:44.120 development and the launch uh and um and 00:23:46.760 the and running this platform um and 00:23:49.480 this is where why we're currently 00:23:51.080 reaching out to investors to safeguard 00:23:53.480 this extremely fan Centric and positive 00:23:56.400 future proof vision which we share okay 00:23:59.440 thank you the next one is from Georgia 00:24:01.919 marota uh from course boort what could 00:24:05.080 happen with players registrations if the 00:24:08.000 federations decide to take away the 00:24:10.279 licensing from clubs participating in 00:24:13.039 the Super League project that's a very 00:24:15.799 interesting question um which uh which 00:24:18.200 will be discussed and then we are happy 00:24:20.000 to discuss about that today is the 00:24:22.799 moment of cont not licensing and and and 00:24:25.760 confrontation and dividing today is the 00:24:28.360 day where football had access had gained 00:24:31.000 access to the values and the freedoms of 00:24:33.200 the European Union the judges of the ecj 00:24:36.919 gave football the freedom to deter their 00:24:39.159 own football and empowered clubs to to 00:24:42.320 really take their own destiny in their 00:24:44.640 hands so if we succeed to promote the 00:24:49.200 best idea and to promote the best 00:24:51.240 proposed form it I think we can unite 00:24:53.440 clubs um and uh and avoid confrontation 00:24:56.200 which is not our aim 00:24:58.600 that's fantastic so I've got another one 00:25:01.159 from William Pereira from 20 minutes 00:25:04.279 your opponents see the super league as 00:25:06.960 the opponent of national leagues such as 00:25:09.679 La Liga how do you 00:25:12.279 respond this initiative wants to 00:25:15.240 strengthen clubs it wants to give them 00:25:17.840 Empower them to determine their own uh 00:25:20.520 Destiny but also strengthen them 00:25:22.760 financially allowing them to have a 00:25:25.000 really strong financial column on the 00:25:27.799 back of their European uh participation 00:25:31.159 if that strengthens a lot of clubs in 00:25:33.360 domestic leagues as well then it's 00:25:35.320 positive it should be positive and it 00:25:36.960 will be positive for domestic leagues as 00:25:38.640 well okay I've got the last one from Ros 00:25:42.320 B Meer sorry for the pronation yeah it's 00:25:46.799 quite difficult for me German uh from 00:25:49.159 nport he says if participation in the 00:25:52.240 super league is only guaranteed by 00:25:54.120 financial means and not on sporting 00:25:56.960 grounds isn't that the death nail for 00:26:00.000 football and do you expect resistance 00:26:03.039 from nonparticipating clubs to the 00:26:05.000 creation of the Super League well first 00:26:07.559 of all we couldn't be clearer about 00:26:09.720 sporting mered as the essence of the 00:26:11.919 whole proposal um it's open it's 00:26:14.600 meritocratic it's accessible the right 00:26:17.000 to dream is alive as it probably has 00:26:19.240 never been alive before um and 00:26:22.240 nonpartisan painting clubs will access 00:26:25.159 to uh transparently and uh third party 00:26:30.080 pledged and distributed uh participation 00:26:32.559 in a solidarity pool which will be three 00:26:35.000 times higher the one who is currently 00:26:37.480 distributed uh but within the system so 00:26:40.200 solidarity openness and meritocracy are 00:26:43.640 cornerstones of our proposal well thank 00:26:46.559 you very much Burt and this is it for 00:26:49.480 the moment thank you all very much for 00:26:52.720 uh being here and uh well we're going uh 00:26:57.240 to say goodbye soon do you want to add 00:27:00.080 something at this presentation what is 00:27:03.440 really important is that today is a the 00:27:06.640 beginning of a new era today is a day 00:27:09.440 where clubs can decide their own future 00:27:12.080 our ambition is to empower clubs and to 00:27:15.320 be at their service to develop and to 00:27:17.640 concrete on the proposal and that every 00:27:20.159 club and every football fan out there 00:27:22.760 has yeah the right to dream of the 00:27:25.399 football of their dreams so see you soon 00:27:28.559 and um the football of your dreams 00:27:39.740 [Music] 00:27:45.170 [Music] 00:27:56.519 thanks 00:27:59.640 [Music] 00:28:03.900 [Applause] 00:28:07.420 [Music] 00:28:16.780 [Music]
Ok I just remembered how to use the MID() fiction in Excel. All timestamps removed. good afternoon everyone and welcome my name is Roberta pasui and I will be moderating today's presentation from a22 Sports we have exciting things to discuss following the landmark ruling of the European court of justice this morning I am pleased to be joined by burn reard COO of a22 he will spend the next uh 20 to 30 minutes or so a explaining their new proposal for changing European football at the conclusion of his remarks we will take questions from journalists but first let me do a quick presentation a22 Sports is a company that was formed to assist in the development and introduction of the European Super League burnt was appointed CEO of the company in late 2022 prior to that time he was COO of RTL of deutchland burn hi can you explain why today is a special day thank you Roberta and welcome everyone indeed there is big news today and that news is that football is free free from the Monopoly of HFA free to pursue the best ideas without fear of sanctions and under our proposal free fee of all life matches but more on that later let's start with the ruling this morning the European court of justice ended with us near 70-year Monopoly by determining that FIFA and uea's rules on prior approval of interclub competitions are contrary to European Union law they have also determined that FIFA and WFA rules making any new interclub project subject to their prior approval are pro and prohibiting clubs and players from those playing those competitions that they are also unlawful the court has effectively opened the door to innovation in football and clubs can now openly discuss and consider proposals to address the sports most pressing issues the ecj is the highest court in the European Union and therefore this rules cannot be and this ruling cannot be appealed and it paves the way for the creation of a new more exciting competition at European level in which clubs can determine their own future all within the existing European football family so again the strongest message today goes out to the fans football is free well thank you Burns so with the judgments now in hand what can you tell us about A2 22 proposals for new crossb competition in Europe well I think the first thing to understand is that the new proposal is the result of an extensive dialogue over the past 18 months with many many people involved in football this includes clubs players fans leagues media Executives and government officials in other words a really big group and while there is clearly more to do this proposal has been shaped with the input from clubs of all sizes big small and in between we learned during our discussions that there is a great consistency infused around the issues facing the sport perhaps at the top of the list is a clear view that the existing European Club competitions are not grabbing fans attention there are simply too many inconsequential matches where there is little interest and you you can see this in the fee statistics in fact it is only in the final stage in the spring when interest Peaks young fans who are digital natives with many entertainment options in particular are turning away so we believe and we've been told that fresh thinking is needed the Cornerstone of our proposal Remain the 10 principles which we published last February critically a couple of those those principles are worth repeating participation will be based on sporting Merit there will be no permanent members and clubs will remain committed to their domestic leagues so now let's have a look at the proposed new format an overview video will help explain both the men's and the women's competition a22 wants to create the world's most exciting Club football competition our proposal aims to ensure competitive tension throughout the year it's an open system featuring promotion and relegation and two stages a league stage and a knockout stage the European men's Super League will have 64 participating clubs divided into three leagues Star Gold and blue the star league consists of 16 clubs divided into two groups of eight it's the same for the gold league 16 Club CLS two groups of eight the blue League will have 32 clubs split into four groups of eight during the league stage clubs play each other within their groups home and away that's 14 matches per Club each season seven at home seven away the top four clubs in each group of the star and gold leagues and the top two clubs in each group of the blue League will qualify for The Knockout rounds starting with the quarterfinal the quarter and semi-final consist of a two-legged knock knockout round Home and Away the final will be played on neutral ground The Knockout round finals winners will be the blue League Gold League and star League champions our proposal is built around sporting Merit promotion relegation and exit from the competition happen each season the club finishing at the bottom of each group of the star league will be relegated and replaced by the two gold league finalists the same system applies in the gold League the last Club of each group will be relegated and replaced by Blue League finalists in The Blue League 20 out of the 32 clubs will leave the competition all together and be replaced by clubs depending on their domestic League performance this system ensures mobility within and across leagues and as matches will be played midweek this format is completely compatible with domestic leagues this proposed format for football will guarant guarantee openness competitive tension and success based on sporting Merit it is one competition for all clubs all players and all [Music] fans so okay it's open it's competitive I think that gives a quite good summary of what you're proposing for men but what about the women's competition as you will see in uh the next video the women's league is very similar but of course it takes into consideration and it is adapted to the current stage of the development of the women's game so let's have a look our proposal will double the amount of showcased European women's football clubs and unite them into a single competition the European women's Super League boasts 32 clubs divided into two leagues star and gold the star league consists of 16 clubs divided into two groups of eight it's the same for the gold league 16 clubs two groups of eight during the league stage clubs play each other within their groups home and away that's 14 matches per Club each season seven at home seven away the top four clubs in each group of the star N Gold leagues will qualify for The Knockout round starting with the quarterfinal the quarter and semi-final consists of a two-legged knockout round home Anda the final will be played on neutral ground The Knockout round finals winners will be the gold league and star League champions in the star league two clubs will be relegated and replaced by the two gold league finalists in The Gold League four clubs will exit the competition and be replaced by other clubs depending on their domestic League performance this system ensures mobility within and across cross leagues Enders matches will be played midweek this format is completely compatible with domestic leagues this proposed format will guarantee openness competitive tension and a new era for Women's Club football it is one competition for all clubs all players and all fans okay so twice has many showcased Women's Club that definitely struck me yeah let me add a few additional details football is the only truly Global Sport with fans in the billions around the globe there is nothing like it and Europe is the home of football it's where the game was invented and it's also the home of the leading clubs in the world the challenge is and working with clubs and others whether the best sporting competition in the world can be created we believe it can be and that is the objective of this initiative and but how would the format serve that goal the format youve just seen would achieved many things first it will lead to fantastically exciting matches throughout the entire year not just part of the year a league system with just 14 matches means that absolutely every match counts Club clubs that almost never play each other will now compete regularly on the European stage and generating even a greater rivalry at the same time there is mobility between the leagues with promotion and relegation and with an ongoing strong connections to domestic leagues and finally there would be an incredible season end knockout stage we think this proposal is fan Centric it's exciting and it's capable of achieving what is admittedly a very ambitious goal and very well uh you have also proposed a league structure as opposed to the current structure of the Champions League can you talk about that yeah in our in our discussion with clubs we identified two big issues the first issue was that clubs can perform extremely well at European level yet still not be in the same competition in the subsequent year this is feuded as unfair and not consistent with the concept of sporting Merit second clubs cannot make commitments to players to infrastructure to the women's games and other expenditure just because under the current system the vast majority of clubs cannot rely on income from Europe accordingly they struggle to retain top players they struggle to compete consistently at European level and they struggle domestically where there are huge imbalances in the relative value of media rights between the large countries and the small countries in Europe we think a league structure will go a long way towards solving those problems while at the same time delivering opportunities for a higher level of football for players and for fans and can you also explain has how clubs get promoted Into the Blue League the process of promoting is obviously a very critical element of the format and at this point more work and dialogue with clubs and league is necessary to work out on the precise details mhm I understand you want to build this project together with clubs absolutely what we can say is that promotion should be equally open for all leagues and it should be determined based upon club's domestic performance so more on that to come Roberta Fant fantastic then and also in your opening remarks you mentioned your proposal includes viewing all life matches for free how would that work well fan access to the fee of live football matches has become for some prohibitively expensive we are leaving way too many fans behind we want to change this this is a unique opportunity to rethink how football is presented to the F and connecting them with their favorite clubs and players just like never before well that's never before means well a22 proposes to create UniFi a direct to Fan streaming platform which would be the place that fans turn to to enjoy their passion for football to connect with their clubs and favorite players to find the latest news and most importantly to view live matches for free this concept applies equally to both the men's and the women's game with the women's games and the women's matches given the same visibility and accessibility as the man's this is a critical boost women's football needs to continue to grow and to develop this next video will help explain what I mean in recent years live football matches have been delivered to f in the same way maybe through pay TV subscriptions this approach has allowed fans throughout the world to view matches in the comfort of their homes however technology has evolved and how we watch football at home needs to evolve as well digital platforms and social media have fundamentally altered the way we enjoy movies series and Sport at the same time the cost of football has become too expensive for many fans and often two or three subscriptions are needed to see all matches football needs fresh thinking it's time to bring all fans billions of them back to the game introducing UniFi our proposal to create a single direct to Fan streaming platform offering all Super League matches and highlights for free supported by advertising this platform will be available around the world and fans will enjoy the best football for free UniFi well that is the Fantastic Vision though ambitious I am sure many people are wondering how can you do this well let's start with the technical aspect If This Were 10 or 15 years ago it would be very challenging but infrastructure and software needed for streaming at scale has developed enormously in recent years and we have been in discussion with some of the leading technology suppliers in the world developing this proposal okay so let's go on the business side how can you offer the best football for free well on the commercial side the answer is straightforward first free football would bring billions of fans to UniFi for a streaming platform this would be unprecedented in the advertising World which was my life for many many years the reach of UniFi will be very attractive to advertisers by the way I should note we are not doing anything which hasn't been done before in some way our proposal is following the lead of the best smartest most forward looking companies in the entertainment world and it's clear it's absolutely clear where they are going those who began free like meta or Spotify or in the US Hulu now have pay options free of advertising those who began with only pay subscriptions like Netflix and others are now in including ad supported Alternatives so one of the key aspects in the enormous reach is the enormous reach is bet the best football to have around the world yeah when you are when you are able to connect billions of people as Google does as meta does and as UniFi has the potential to do you are convinced that the value will follow and the key thing here is that all these companies are effectively streaming companies this provides enormous flexibility not only in offering both advertising and subscription based options but also the ability to provide new features and interactive options who are which are constantly evolving and this will be great for fans finally don't forget and this is really important UniFi can count on the US huge Advantage which is the best the most compelling sport competition in the world world the best football clubs and the best football players and the only sport that appeals to fans across all continents on a different note we clearly understand that this approach is new to football and it's new to clubs they may want to know that it works financially before joining up which makes sense so we will have support which will provide a safety net guaranteeing revenues and solidarity payments during during the first 3 years of the new competition at a level beyond that expected in the next cycle okay but would you do it all of these on your own and who would own Oni well no of course we would not do this on our own existing broadcasting and distribution Partners would continue to play a crucial role in many many countries and from an infrastructure perspective partners and suppliers will be necessary Neary to provide the technology needed to bring the live matches to fans but again this aspect of streaming has changed dramatically over the years and there are many Advanced providers for these kind of services in terms of who will own UniFi it will be the participating clubs in combination with valuated thirdparty investors who can help develop the platform and assist in managing the ongoing operations thereafter it's also important to note that 100% of the Super League net income will be distributed each year to participate in clubs just one last question before we open for question from the media what happens now what are your next steps well we will continue and expand our dialogue with the football stakeholders to explain and to further develop this proposal we don't pretend to have all the answers but we do have have the benefit of years of effort examining and analyzing the problems along with potential Solutions but in the end this process will led by will be led by clubs who in the interest of their fans their players and their leagues will decide what makes sense for them well thank you thank you very much burn now it's the time to answer some questions and please notice that we cannot answer every question and this live stream but our team will come back to everyone of you with an answer so I've got the first one which is from uh Jimmie Garner from PA media MH you have won the right to compete but how will you convince clubs to join can you announce who is on board well our proposal has to be convinced and convincing um and we invite clubs to shape and to help shape this proposal um and we want to reach as as many as as clubs as possible to shape and to contribute there are clubs who are really interested in our proposal and to learn more uh and to contribute but now dropping uh clubs would divide football we don't want to divide football we want to unite football and everybody makes uses the opportunity of today's historic day to lead football into a new era thank you and the next one is from niaer from RMC report are you reaching out your hands to WEA today we reached out our hands to everybody in the football Family actually what we have done over the past 18 years have been a dialogue conducting um and and embracing everybody who wants to discuss about the problems discuss about potential Solutions and that included waer um I was actually traveling there last year and I'm happy and open to do so again well that's fantastic the next one is from David alvare uh from elpis in uh 2021 when the Super League was presented it was financed by JP Morgan with 4,000 Millions Euros for 23 years how much does the project have right now who is financing it and under which conditions well now financing is probably more focused um on UniFi um we explained and shared our vision for a a unique platform a fan Centric streaming platform that brings together the clubs and fans like it was never done before and with reaching a number of of billions of fans unprecedented also because it is a very attractive free offer to watch live matches so it is it is investors will back us on the development and the launch uh and um and the and running this platform um and this is where why we're currently reaching out to investors to safeguard this extremely fan Centric and positive future proof vision which we share okay thank you the next one is from Georgia marota uh from course boort what could happen with players registrations if the federations decide to take away the licensing from clubs participating in the Super League project that's a very interesting question um which uh which will be discussed and then we are happy to discuss about that today is the moment of cont not licensing and and and confrontation and dividing today is the day where football had access had gained access to the values and the freedoms of the European Union the judges of the ecj gave football the freedom to deter their own football and empowered clubs to to really take their own destiny in their hands so if we succeed to promote the best idea and to promote the best proposed form it I think we can unite clubs um and uh and avoid confrontation which is not our aim that's fantastic so I've got another one from William Pereira from 20 minutes your opponents see the super league as the opponent of national leagues such as La Liga how do you respond this initiative wants to strengthen clubs it wants to give them Empower them to determine their own uh Destiny but also strengthen them financially allowing them to have a really strong financial column on the back of their European uh participation if that strengthens a lot of clubs in domestic leagues as well then it's positive it should be positive and it will be positive for domestic leagues as well okay I've got the last one from Ros B Meer sorry for the pronation yeah it's quite difficult for me German uh from nport he says if participation in the super league is only guaranteed by financial means and not on sporting grounds isn't that the death nail for football and do you expect resistance from nonparticipating clubs to the creation of the Super League well first of all we couldn't be clearer about sporting mered as the essence of the whole proposal um it's open it's meritocratic it's accessible the right to dream is alive as it probably has never been alive before um and nonpartisan painting clubs will access to uh transparently and uh third party pledged and distributed uh participation in a solidarity pool which will be three times higher the one who is currently distributed uh but within the system so solidarity openness and meritocracy are cornerstones of our proposal well thank you very much Burt and this is it for the moment thank you all very much for uh being here and uh well we're going uh to say goodbye soon do you want to add something at this presentation what is really important is that today is a the beginning of a new era today is a day where clubs can decide their own future our ambition is to empower clubs and to be at their service to develop and to concrete on the proposal and that every club and every football fan out there has yeah the right to dream of the football of their dreams so see you soon and um the football of your dreams
Do they have chartered accountants reports on the validity of their financial claims, or commitments from media etc. ?