Super League To Replace Champions League And Europa League?

Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, chairman of European Clubs Association (ECA) and chief executive of Bayern Munich says a future European Super League is a possibility.

The league would consist of Europe’s biggest soccer clubs from Italy, Germany, Spain, England and France.

“I don’t rule out that in the future a European league will be founded, in which the biggest teams from Italy, Germany, England, Spain and France will play,”Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported him as saying.

“The football system will adjust to the new challenges of globalisation,”Rummenigge said at an event in Milan on Tuesday.

The ECA however released a statement saying an supposed Super League has never been discussed.

“There’s a lot of discussion around the future of European competitions at the moment, as always ahead of a new competition cycle,” said an ECA spokesman.

“However, the idea of a European league as reported did not form part of any discussion at ECA.”

Proposals for a so-called European Super League, featuring the top clubs from around the continent, have come and gone over the years.

In 1998, Milan-based sports marketing company Media Partners held talks with leading clubs including AC Milan and Manchester United in 1998 as they sought to build support for a breakaway league however FIFA threatened national associations, clubs and players with suspension if they linked up with the proposed Super League.

European soccer’s governing body UEFA finally killed the plan by expanding their premier competition, the Champions League, offering clubs a greater slice of television and sponsorship revenue, and upping prize money.