Real Madrid News
Super League CEO makes defiant statement following setback: “This is not dead”
On Thursday, the European Super League project was dealt with a major blow as the European Union Court of Justice sided with UEFA and FIFA over the matter of the breakaway league.
The EU opined that the governing bodies of European and world football were well within their right to ban clubs participating in the rogue league without permission, dealing a hammerblow to the Super League project.
However, that has not dimmed the spirits of the stakeholders in the Super League. Earlier today, Real Madrid president Florentino Perez and Barcelona president Joan Laporta attended a conference along with Super League’s new CEO Bernd Reichart.
And the latter issued a defiant statement, saying that the Super League was still very much alive despite the non-binding opinion of the European Union’s General Counsel.
As quoted by Mundo Deportivo, Reichart stated: “This is not dead, far from it. It is very, very much alive. The clubs want to be the masters of their own destinies and we will continue to work for that. Also, the youngsters who are asking for more meaningful matches.”
Further stressing why the Super League was a novel idea, Reichart claimed that football as a sport was not only competing with other sports but also the OTT streaming services like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, etc.
“This sport is no longer competing against cycling or basketball, but also against Netflix, Amazon Prime, or HBO Max, and that’s important,” he said.
Real Madrid president Perez has been the biggest advocate of the Super League project and has the backing of his Barcelona counterpart Laporta. Ex-Juventus president Andrea Agnelli, who could not attend the conference today, also remains a major part of the project.
When announced initially, the Super League was met with huge criticism and derision by fans across the globe. With UEFA and FIFA further being empowered by EU’s stance, it remains to be seen how those involved in the rogue tournament proceed further.
Marco Asensio is fighting for his future at Real Madrid. The 27-year-old winger is out of contract at the end of the season and there is no concrete decision made by the club over his renewal as of yet.
Some reports had suggested that the club had tabled an offer worth €4 million per year, which the Spaniard did not like as he sought a higher pay packet closer to around €6 million-a-year.
With his future a subject of intense speculation, Asensio had been linked with a move away to Premier League clubs such as Arsenal and Liverpool.
Meanwhile, closer to home, there were strong links to Real Madrid’s arch-rivals Barcelona. Indeed, the Catalans have been touted as potential suitors for Asensio for quite some time now due to the fact that he is represented by Jorge Mendes.
The superagent has close ties with Barcelona president Joan Laporta and reports in Spain have suggested that the Real Madrid winger has, indeed, been offered to the current La Liga leaders.
Amidst these speculations, however, Asensio has seemingly made it clear as to where his heart lies as he awaits a decision on his future.
During last night’s El Clasico against Barcelona, the Real Madrid winger came on as a substitute and went on to score a goal, following which he celebrated at Camp Nou, pointing to the Real Madrid logo on his shirt, showing where his allegiances lie.
The goal, however, was disallowed by the VAR, and Los Blancos ended up losing the game 2-1 thanks to a stoppage-time winner by Franck Kessie.
Earlier today, Asensio took to Instagram and posted a picture of him celebrating with his finger pointing to the Real Madrid logo, reiterating his commitment to the club amidst the links to Barcelona.
As for his disallowed goal, it sparked an angry reaction from Carlo Ancelotti, who questioned the legitimacy of the decision made by the VAR during his post-match press conference.
