Real Madrid chief insisting on ESL

Perez says breakaway football league’s aim is to offer fans games of ‘great quality’

MADRID:

Real Madrid president Florentino Perez again insisted on the idea of a European Super League when speaking at a club members assembly on Sunday.

In April 2021 a dozen of Europe's biggest clubs signed up to a controversial new project but it crumbled after a strong backlash from supporters and football's governing bodies.

Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus stayed on board while other clubs abandoned ship and the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg (CJEU) is to rule over whether European football governing body UEFA is acting as a monopoly by blocking the project.

"The Super League has never been closed off with a concrete format," Perez told Madrid members. "We think that it could change depending on different contexts.

"The objective of the Super League is to modernise football. It is essential to offer fans games of great quality. UEFA, with their changing and remodelling of the Champions League is mistakenly going the other way."

The Real Madrid chief compared football to tennis, where the top players usually face each other multiple times a year.

"What sense does it have depriving fans of big games?" he asked. "(Rafa) Nadal and (Roger) Federer have met over 40 times. Nadal and (Novak) Djokovic have played 59 times, is this boring?

"Liverpool and Real Madrid have only met nine times in 67 years."

Perez also took aim at Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser Al-Khelaifi, who is also the president of the European Club Association (ECA).

"The president of the ECA said that Real Madrid launched the Super League because they feared competition," he added.

"Maybe we have to remind him who Real Madrid are, the most decorated club in history."

Perez's comments were met with contempt in some quarters, with La Liga president Javier Tebas taking to Twitter to criticise the Madrid chief.

"History will recognise Florentino Perez as one of the best runners of a club, but to be someone who can run a club well does not imply they will be good at running competitions," wrote Tebas.

"Without knowing, Perez is saying things that could kill the rest of the clubs, including Real Madrid."