Juventus chief Andrea Agnelli insists ‘deep and profound reforms’ to European football
uventus chief Andrea Agnelli declined the chance to outline how a European Super League 2.0 would look but insisted ‘deep and profound reforms’ are still needed.
Agnelli was heavily involved in the failed attempt to establish Super League with 12 founder clubs last year and there are suggestions the idea could be resurrected with Juventus, Barcelona and Real Madrid at the vanguard.
He had weathered personal attacks from UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin, who accused him of living in a ‘parallel world’, and LaLiga chief Javier Tebas, who accused the Super League plotters of ‘lying more than [Vladimir] Putin.’
But when invited to describe how a new iteration of the Super League may look at the Financial Times Business of Football summit, Agnelli kept his cards close to his chest.
‘Today, to me, European football is in dire straits, it is in need of deep and profound reforms,’ he said.
‘Last year was the first time not one, or two, or three, clubs but 12 made a very important statement, a profound shout of alarm to the system that we have to do something to build a sustainable industry.’
Intriguingly, Agnelli said 11 of the 12 clubs were still bound to the Super League contract they originally signed.
The idea could be resurrected with Juventus, Barcelona and Real Madrid at the vanguard
He said: ‘This is a collective work of 12 teams it is not one person or two persons. We have 12 people that signed a 150-page contract which by the way still binds 11 of 12 of these clubs.
‘There are a number of clauses within the contract so everyone will operate within the contract they have signed.’
It comes as he awaits the outcome of a legal case pursued by Juventus, Real Madrid and Barcelona against UEFA at the European Court of Justice, which allowed Agnelli to not reveal any details here.
In the days following the announcement – and collapse – of the Super league project last year, the three rebel clubs went to court in Madrid to assert their right to form a breakaway competition.
Javier Tebas has launched an attack on clubs wanting to revive the European Super League
UEFA had threatened any club participating in the Super League – which included six signatories from England’s Premier League – with expulsion from their competitions.
In May, the case was referred to the European Court of Justice, where it will ultimately be decided.
Agnelli maintained there was a need for reform of UEFA, which he says plays the role of regulator, commercial operator and gatekeeper.
‘I want to make sure that as in any proper open and transparent system there is a separation of roles,’ he said.
