European Super League proposal has the potential for major disruption

The idea of an elite European Super League (ESL) has been around for years. Once ownership of major European football teams started to fall to Americans, Saudis, Russian oligarchs, etc, and soccer teams were appearing on stock exchanges, it was only a matter of time before business took over from sports and tradition.

But it's only quite recently that it's looking more like a fait acccompli, and the rhetoric is heating up commeasurately. Currently, 12 teams have signed up to the idea - Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Juventus, AC Milan, and Inter Milan - basically the top teams from England, Spain and Italy, but notably none from France, Germany, Portugal, or other major football leagues. They hope to attract another three top teams for a founding nucleus of fifteen, and then offer a further five places to qualiying teams annually, for a total of twenty. These elite teams would play high-profile mid-week games between themselves, but the expectation is for them to also play in their respective leagues. 

The proposed league would be very similar to a North American franchise system, complete with revenue sharing and salary caps. The defectors have secured $6 billion in financing for the new league, mainly through American investment bank JP Morgan Chase, and each team is expected to receive as much as €300 milllion as a "joining bonus". As you see, this is big money. It might happen as early as August 2021.

The fan base seems divided but generally opposed is my impression (certainly fans of other league teams are vehemently opposed). The president of UEFA, which runs the European Champions League, and which probably stands to lose more than any other organization, has been extremely outspoken, calling it a "disgraceful, self-serving project from a select few clubs in Europe, fuelled by greed above all else", and griping that "we didn't know we had snakes working close to us". He is proposing that ESL players should be banned from playing for their countries at the World Cup and European Cup competitions.

Politicians are also getting involved, with British PM Boris Johnson in particular promising to do everything possible to prevent it from going ahead. But other European politicians, including Italian, French and European Union leaders, have also publicly expressed their displeasure.

It has certainly put the cat among the pigeons, and you ain't seen nothin' yet. This has the potential to disrupt Europe dramatically, and you can probably expect riots in the street at some point (there have already been protests outside English football clubs). This is football, after all, the religion of Europe, and the idea of the ESL is the equivalent of Martin Luther posting up his ninety-five theses on Wittenberg's church door.

UPDATE

What a difference a day makes. After further demonstrations by Chelsea fans, Manchester City and then Chelsea pulled out of the breakaway elite league, rapidly followed by the other four English teams. The Spaniards and Italians are expected to follow suit in short order. Manchester United's top executive Ed Woodward, a leading force behind the Super League, was summarily dismissed.

So, in little more than 24 hours, the revolutionary breakway has collapsed in ignominy, leaving the perpetrators with egg on their faces, and fans seething with rage, resentment and mistrust. Many are howling for punishments for the maverick teams and their greedy billionaire owners. As one English fan put it, "This was the most disgraceful episode in the history of English football".

What a difference a day makes indeed.