Manchester City Football Club says it has formally enacted the procedures to withdraw from a group developing plans for a European Super League.
City was one of the 12 founding clubs that announced on Sunday they were signing up to a new breakaway competition, but since then those involved have faced a backlash from fans, pundits, administrators and broadcasters.
City released a one-line statement on Wednesday morning (AEST), ending its involvement.
The BBC reported Chelsea were also set to back out of the competition, as hundreds of Chelsea fans demonstrated outside their club’s West London ground Stamford Bridge, voicing their opposition to the proposal.
Petr Cech — a former Champions League-winning goalkeeper who played for Chelsea for more than a decade — pleading with fans outside the ground as they blocked the players’ bus from entering the stadium.
Cech, now a performance and technical adviser at Chelsea, could be heard on video posted on Twitter imploring with fans: “Let people sort this out, but this is not the thing.
“Let people in. Let the bus go in. Give people time.”
Chelsea’s players were attempting to enter the stadium in time for a Premier League fixture against Brighton. The demonstration delayed the kick-off.
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The Super League argued it would increase revenues to the competing clubs and allow them to distribute more money to the rest of the game.
However, the sport’s governing bodies, other teams and fan organisations were saying it would increase the power and wealth of the elite clubs and the closed structure of the league went against European football’s long-standing model.
Unlike Europe’s current elite Champions League competition, where teams have to qualify through their domestic league, the founding Super League teams would guarantee themselves a place in the new competition every year.
More to come.
Reuters/ABC
