November 26 – As Florentino Perez, Real Madrid president, addressed the general assembly, known as ‘socios’, on Sunday he couldn’t resist going after LA Liga, UEFA, and FIFA in his annual address to the membership.
Perez, who spoke for 85 minutes, said: “The Super League’s proposal to offer free football through Unify is doing what Netflix did in the world of cinema or what Spotify did with music. I am more optimistic than ever about the Super League. After the ECJ (Court of European Justice) ruling last December, I can assure you that nothing will ever be the same again.
“(The ruling) put a resounding end to decades of UEFA’s monopoly. We never said it would be easy, it has been a titanic task, there have been many pressures and threats that could have brought anyone down, but not us. But we have not fought this battle to celebrate a judgement, we now have a unique opportunity to put in place a new model. And the sooner we do it, the better,” he continued.
“The current system does not work. A22, the promoter of the Super League, is in contact with all football families, trying to find a balance that satisfies everyone, including UEFA and FIFA. It will be 100% meritocratic and in full respect of the ECJ ruling. The ruling has given us back our freedom. This is a historic moment.”
Last year the ECJ ruled that UEFA, European football’s governing body, and FIFA, its global equivalent, were “abusing a dominant position” regarding rules blocking a new Super League and were in breach of competition law.
The Super League, the brainchild of Perez was going to be launched in 2021, however a worldwide backlash against the founding members, led to the Premiership clubs, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, Spurs and both Manchester teams, City and United, to walk away causing the proposal to crash. Perez though refuses to let the project to die.
With the broadcast platform, Unify, in place, the idea is to show matches free-of-charge or for a small fee without advertisements. With the new UEFA Champions League system in place, it feels like an uphill struggle for Perez to get his wish.
However, should the unthinkable happen and Real do not qualify for the knockout rounds of the competition, expect the drum beat to grow louder.
Contact the writer of this story, Nick Webster, at moc.l1735255311labto1735255311ofdlr1735255311owedi1735255311sni@o1735255311fni1735255311