The breakaway European Super League is back under a new name in a different format following the collapse of its original plans for 2021.
The European Court of Justice has ruled that the establishment of a new league is legally justified in theory, and organizers A22 have submitted proposals to UEFA and FIFA for a new competition called a “unified league”.
Here we take a closer look at the plans that have been submitted to official agencies…
New structure of European Super League as unified league
The new format of the Unified League will see 96 European teams competing in four leagues: Star League, Gold League, Blue League and United League – one more league and 32 teams more than the original proposal for 2021.
Both the Stars League and the Gold League (the top two leagues in the structure) will consist of 16 clubs divided into two groups of eight clubs each. The bottom two leagues, the Blue League and the Alliance League, each have 32 teams divided into four groups of eight teams.
During the league phase, clubs will play seven home games and seven away games against all other clubs in the group, with the top four (for Star League and Gold League) or top two (for Blue and Gold League) ) League League) advances to the knockout stage. Pretty simple, right?
The new format means the four “unified” leagues can host up to 10 English teams each season.
In the blueprint for the first 20-team competition released in 2021, all founding members were exempted from relegation, lacking “fair competition”. Key crux For those who oppose the plan.
Organizers appear to have taken this feedback on board, as the new unified league will have a system to decide who qualifies based on annual domestic performance – which A22 says Keep the game within UEFA’s definition of an open game.
Yes, A22 also has a women’s tournament that follows the same format but only in the first two divisions: Star League and Gold League.
This means a total of 32 teams will take part, 16 teams from each league, divided into two groups of 8 teams each.
How do fans watch the game?
A key proposal put forward in the 2021 round of negotiations to win over fan support was to make matches free for domestic spectators, which has been retained in this update.
The game will be broadcast live on a free platform called Unified and will include advertising.
When will the Unified Alliance be held?
The league phase will begin in September and run until April, Some outlets reported The target start date is September 2026.
However, A22 still has many tough hurdles to overcome before any concrete plans can be made.
Assuming they overcome the strong fan sentiment that overturned the last attempt – a huge leap in itself – it will still require approval from a host of governing bodies.
Overcoming these significant hurdles, although the European Court of Justice ruled that such matches cannot be legally banned, each country’s own laws will need to be dealt with – especially for English clubs, who currently have Prime Minister Keir Starmer urge parliament to pass a bill This would create laws that would prevent them from participating in such breakthrough competitions.
