UK Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden announced the government was ready to step in – with changes to the law if necessary – to stop the league’s creation. He said everything from a windfall tax on clubs participating to fewer work permits and reduced help with policing on match days were being considered as punishments.
Dowden’s intervention came after conversations with executives at the Premier League,FA and Europe’s governing body UEFA,who are united in opposition and braced for a potential court battle. UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin branded rebel clubs the “dirty dozen” and called executives at Manchester United and Juventus “snakes” for pursuing the idea.
The unprecedented stand-off between governments and football’s governing bodies against the continent’s most famous clubs followed a dramatic statement late on Sunday night. Six English clubs announced they would become founding members of the so-called Super League:Manchester United,Liverpool,Arsenal,Chelsea,Tottenham and Manchester City.
They joined Spanish sides Atletico Madrid,Real Madrid and Barcelona and Italian clubs AC Milan,Juventus and Inter. No German,French or Dutch sides have yet backed the move.
The proposal sparked outrage as the founding clubs would become permanent members of the league,with no promotion or relegation,an idea criticised as against the spirit of football.
The teams involved argued they could continue to play in their domestic leagues alongside the new competition but have been threatened with expulsion and having players banned from international duties.