There has been a lot of raucous about the European Super League lately. As things stand, the whole project has been put on hold, if not completely eradicated, with only two teams, the founding members, FC Barcelona & Real Madrid persisting to stick with the project. Barça president, Joan Laporta finds the Super League a necessary project but the socios will get to have the last word, he retorted.
All the English teams who were a part of this project a few days back have submitted their official statements to withdraw from the group development plans for a European Super League after the backlash received from their respective audiences in the last 72 hours.
Joan Laporta, president of FC Barcelona broke his silence on the Super League to TV3 today saying, “We have a position of caution. It’s a necessity, but the last word will be taken by the socios. The big clubs provide a lot of resources & we must have our say for the financial distribution. It must be an attractive competition, based on sporting merits. We are defenders of state leagues and we are open to dialogue with UEFA. We need more resources to make this project better. I think there will be an understanding.”
He also further pointed out that “there has been pressure on some clubs, but the proposal still exists. We make very important investments, wages are very high & all these considerations must be taken into account, bearing in mind the sporting merits as well.”
FC Barcelona is extremely clear that the final decision in case of moving forward with the Super League must be approved by the commissary partners (Socios) at the Ordinary general assembly which is bound to take place at the end of May.
Laporta’s statement comes the day after Aleksander Ceferin, president of UEFA, exempted him in part from his presence as a promoter of the Super League. “Everyone disappointed me, but Barcelona was the least. Joan Laporta became president just 2 months ago, so there wasn’t much he could do. The contract he signed (about socios making the final decision) was very smart. I’ve spoken to him 2-3 times. He was under considerable pressure because of the financial situation in which the football club is in & he inherited it- it wasn’t his fault that the situation was like that. So he was clearly under pressure,” added the Slovenian leader.
