Barcelona President announces Superleague-UEFA negotiations

Barcelona President Joan Laporta has announced that the Superleague are in talks with UEFA to agree to reforms to the Champions League. An agreement would potentially see the Superleague project discarded, which remains comprised of Barcelona, Real Madrid and the organising firm A22.

The Superleague had announced that they were intending on beginning the competition next month, and despite claiming buy-in from 60 teams out of 100 consulted, there appears to be no sign of an imminent competition being put together. Part of the reason may be that UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin and Laporta are in talks over changes to the Champions League which would see the ‘necessity’, as it has been termed by Real Madrid President Florentino Perez, reduced.

“I’ve always tried to play a role in building bridges between the Super League and UEFA,” Laporta told MD in an interview.

“We’re now in a situation where the Super League is having discussions with UEFA. Aleksander Ceferin appointed some people from UEFA to speak with representatives of the Super League. He also spoke with Bernd Reichart, CEO of the Super League, and his entire team, which includes lawyers close to the clubs that are part of the Super League. And an agreement in principle is being reached based on three blocks.”

Laporta noted that the area where the parties are closest to an agreement is on the adoption of The Superleague’s proposed streaming platform, which would provide free access to content around the world.

“I see a lot of willingness on the part of the UEFA president. And I insist, Ceferin is a capable and trustworthy man, and we’re working on that.”

Superleague and UEFA could unite on new competition

Laporta went on to explain that the idea was for the Superleague and UEFA to come to an agreement on a single competition, whereas previously the Superleague had been adamant they would form a breakaway that would cut out UEFA’s involvemement.

“We’ve always been at the same point because when we arrived at the Super League, we said we wanted an open competition. We wanted meritocracy, and we’re happy with the format that’s most profitable for the clubs. Obviously, there’s now the issue of governance on the table, which we’ll see how it’s managed with UEFA, but I think it should be managed in the ECA. And there, we’re working on what I think we’ve wanted from the very beginning. We didn’t want a confrontation; we wanted to improve European football as much as possible.”

Laporta: “We don’t contemplate not returning to Spotify Camp Nou, another season in Montjuïc would not make sense. We want to get back as soon as possible.”

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The two central issues have been control and money. The ECA (European Clubs Association) is a membership organisation ruled by Europe’s richest clubs, which has a voice inside UEFA. Paris Saint-Germain President Nasser Al-Khelaifi is currently the president.  Laporta went on to discuss the improved finances of the new Champions League format.

“Now, for example, the Champions League format has improved performance with 20% more revenue than the previous format. Everything can be improved; it’s constantly evolving. We believe we can have an important voice in improving the format. UEFA isn’t closed off to this issue. Regarding the platform, if it generates revenue as expected, we’re talking about very substantial, very high revenue, and it would be for the good of football. I see that UEFA is opening up, and I see that we’re opening up to reach an agreement.”

Real Madrid are on board with negotiations

The fiercest criticism of UEFA and the Champions League has come from Real Madrid and President Florentino Perez, who have accused the governing body of European football of stealing some of the club’s income, and acting against Real Madrid’s interests. Yet Laporta says Los Blancos are part of the talks.

“We discussed this at the Super League headquarters, and obviously we’re all on the same page. Perhaps we, having not clashed so head-on, find it easier to deal with UEFA. But we’re working in lockstep on this. What we want is for an agreement to be reached that satisfies all parties.”