Super League: this is how the earthquake was conceived, its protagonists said

The April 18, 2021 A real earthquake occurred in European football when twelve of the most powerful clubs announced the establishment of super leaguean exclusive project outside of UEFA, designed only for the best and that means before and after. However, the fire was quickly extinguished and only three clubs remain in the project to this day: Real Madrid, FC Barcelona Y Juventus.

This January 13 premieredThe Super League: war for football‘, a new Apple TV+ docuseries directed and produced by the Emmy-winning filmmaker Jeff Zimbalist (‘The two Escobars‘), along with also winning an Emmy Connor Schell. A major film project, which examines the events that took place between April 17 and 20, 2021, as well as the background and hangover from the scandal.

It does this hand in hand with its great protagonists, with exclusive interviews that offer not only arguments for and against the project, but a more personal view of what happened. Thus, the production allows us to know a little more about powerful men who are often inaccessible. And you are invited to reflect on topics as exciting as interest behind big football projects, the morality and friendship in business, model crisis current or the interruption of soccer sugar daddy (sheikhs, oligarchs and billionaire businessmen) and how they make it difficult for other clubs to field competitive teams.

‘THE SUPER LEAGUE: WAR FOR FOOTBALL’

The testimony of heroes

Aleksander Ceferin, betrayed by a friend

Undoubtedly, the docuseries have two clear protagonists: the president of UEFA, Alexander Ceferinand the former president of Juventus, Andrea Agnelli. Two men with opposite positions who, for many years, were friends, to the point that the Slovenian was the godfather of the Italian’s daughter. When Ceferin became the UEFA presidency, in 2016, he made sure they started rumors about a new league of big clubs, but he found a good ally in Agnelli, with whom he worked together for many years to stop any project along these lines. He trusted her until the last moment.

It was on April 17, 2021 when, towards the presentation of the new reform of Champions to be approved on the 19th, Ceferin received a call that would change everything: they would announce the birth of the Super League at any moment. “He was furious, because it threatened everything he had done to protect football“, he admitted.

He spoke to Agnelli several times on the phone… until the Italian stopped answering: “At that moment I knew he was hiding something (…). I realized that I had been betrayed“. “I was blinded because he was my friend. Even in business, you can’t lie like that.. For me it is more than any morality,” the lawyer said.

When Andrea Agnelli felt that Ceferin failed her

Ceferin wasn’t the only one disappointed, although he probably would have known this by watching the documentary series. And it was revealed by Agnelli that, for him, their paths diverged when UEFA reversed the course on the reform of the Champions League presented in 2019, where both had been working for months. For Agnelli, that failure stops “progress.”

Of course, the Italian magnate continued a good relationship with Ceferin until the day of ‘the great betrayal’. “I think we should not talk about morality or immorality. They are not part of the business world”, he assures when asked about the criticism he received then for having dynamited a friendship.

Florentino Pérez accused UEFA of lying

Florentino Perez This is, without a doubt, another important part in the Super League project. In fact, in the documentaries they refer to him as its “architect” and, as expected, he continues to defend his competition: “The Super League is not a rupture: it is an evolution. If we go astray, we will not let it die. Because it would be a crime. Without a good match, audiences drop. The fans want to see more competitive, more attractive matches.”

“Real Madrid did not play against Chelsea until last year. Bayern Munich and Liverpool, who each have 6 European Cups, have played twice in 65 years. A new world is coming and we want football to develop so that it continues to be the most attractive sport in the world. That’s the Super League,” he said.

In addition, the president of Real Madrid accuses UEFA of lying when the characteristics of the project were revealed: “UEFA said things that were not true. With the league closed, we will finish the national competitions, which we want more money“. And he accuses the agency of a monopoly in the sector. “We have to defend ourselves against threats and insults. We have to go to the Spanish courts. We want to fulfill the values ​​of the European Union, where monopolies are prohibited.”

The food in which Laporta revealed to Tebas that Agnelli involved garlic

javier thebes is another one of the stars of the docuseries. Without mincing words, the LaLiga president made his thoughts clear. “Let’s see, I, in football, I never trusted anyone. They have tried to buy me many times. I think I can get seven or eight people out of my office,” he revealed.

Tebas called Ceferin before the ‘bomb went off’ to warn him that Agnelli was also part of the Super League project. How did you know? told him Joan Laporta. “The Thursday before the mess, I had lunch with an important president of a Spanish club. With Laporta, the new president of Barcelona. And it turned out that he was from the Super League. That food was part of a strategy to convince me to help the Super League“, Explanation.

“I have known Joan Laporta for many years and I told her: ‘You are wrong‘. I was told: ‘This is what they promised us 700 million euros‘. And I said: ‘But if that’s not on the market (…). All European football has run out of money for you to bring it with you'”, repeated the president of LaLiga. It was then that Laporta revealed to him that the president of Juventus had also signed.

And what did Thebes do? Call Ceferin: “If you’re going to do things I don’t like, what do you want? For me to shut up? I called Aleksander and told him ‘Agnelli is involved’. My obligation is to say what is happening (…). Aleksander trusted him until the last moment.”

Laporta, another great defender of the Super League

Laporta is the third best defender of the Super League, although his participation in this new production is less. Of course, in all his interventions he defends the project. “For us, the Super League will be the best competition in the world. They [la UEFA] They don’t take risks and we invest and take risks. I want Barça to win, and in the Super League, the financial sustainability of the clubs is guaranteed”, he clarified.

Like others, Laporta believes “the current system is not moving forward.” Also, he denounced that the current situation has become somewhat unsustainable: “When we go for a player that we want to include in the club, PSG or City have more resources to double the offer. It is difficult to compete in those situations “.

Nasser Al-Khelaifi felt “embarrassed” in the Super League

“Qatar also deserves to be in the middle of the map.” so it begins Nasser Al-Khelaifi his move to the new Apple TV + docuseries, which he describes as a “fantastic investment” that got the Paris Saint-Germain. The Qatari businessman has been a good ally of UEFA in 2021, by rejecting the offer of the Super League from the start.

“Before, Real Madrid and Florentino flew to Paris to meet me and offered me to enter the Super League. They sold it as guaranteed money, more competitive matches, and no risk”, he revealed in his interview, where he recounted that on Sunday, April 18, the day everything officially ‘exploded’, he received a call from to Aleksander Ceferin, who asked him to support UEFA.

Your answer? Very clear: “I’m a big club, but I think… I felt embarrassed, to be honest (…). We cannot kill the dreams, the hopes of the fans and the small clubs. The Super League will destroy the whole system. Our answer is very clear. We will not enter. Any format should be under the umbrella of UEFA“.