Organizers of the original European Super League have announced that the competition has now changed its name to the “Unify League”, favoring an “open competition”.
The initial plan for a European Super League collapsed within 72 hours of being announced after a general outcry in April 2021.
Plans offered in 2021 called for the creation of a 20-team league with 15 original members permanently part of the Super League. The clubs originally involved were Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham and Manchester City.
Last December, organizers A22 revealed they would be moving away from previous proposals, announcing that promotion and relegation would be included in the new format after referees ruled that UEFA and FIFA rules blocking the formation of such a competition were against the law. of the EU.
The latest announcements of the A22 have offered additional changes over the original model. The new ‘Unify League’ will feature a new system where clubs qualify for the competition based on annual domestic performance which A22 explains aligns with UEFA’s “European Sports Model” definition of “open competition”.
They also claim that the revised plans have been developed following discussions with clubs, leagues and other key stakeholders.
Additional tweaks to the competition will allow fans to stream matches for free through an ad-supported app called “Unified.”
How does the ESL format work?
The new men’s “Unify” competition would involve 96 European clubs divided into four leagues, Star, Gold, Blue and Union. Last year’s proposal included 64 clubs across three tiers, while Unify is introducing an additional fourth league called “Union”.
Star: The top league – would include 16 clubs, grouped into two groups of eight.
Gold: The second league – it would be the same.
blue: The third league – would have 32 teams, divided into four groups of eight.
Union: Fourth League – would also have 32 teams, equally divided into four groups of eight.
In the league phase of the competition, clubs play each other within their groups, seven at home and seven away. resulting in 14 games per club each season.
Clubs finishing inside the top four of their groups in Star and Gold will qualify for the quarter-finals, while in Blue and Union the top two in each group will qualify for the last eight.
The quarter-finals will be played in two matches at home and away, but the semi-finals and final will be decided in one match on neutral grounds. For the Star/Gold semi-finals and final, matches will be played at one venue throughout the week of football.
The winners of the knockout stage will be named the champion of the Star, Gold, Blue or Union league.
Women’s league stage it would contain 32 European clubs, divided into two levels – Star and Gold. Like the men’s league, each would contain 16 clubs, grouped into two teams of eight.
The league stage would take place between September and April, with matches played in the middle of the week.
Timeline: How did we get here?
Sky Sports News Chief Reporter Kaveh Solhekol:
“The company behind the sports management A22 and which is closely related to Real Madrid, has not given up on its dream.
“It’s significant that they went to the European Court of Justice and last year the European Court of Justice ruled that if you want to set up a new competition, UEFA can’t just turn around and say, ‘No, you can’t run pan-national competitions in Europe apart from us,’ UEFA was legally obliged to consider your proposals until the league was closed and incorporated into the international match calendar.
“The European Court of Justice found that you could potentially create a new league. On Tuesday, UEFA and FIFA came back and presented their new proposal.”
Why would Premier League clubs want to play in the Unify League?
ESL 2021 was met with protests across the League
Sky Sports News Chief Reporter Kaveh Solhekol:
“There would be room for up to 10 English teams each season – three in the top tier Star, two in Gold and five in Blue and Union.
“Everything would come down to money. If you told clubs at this moment to leave the Champions League with all its history and prestige to play in a new competition, of course almost all clubs would say ‘no’, but what if you offered them more money and reward? Then they would think about it.
“A22 is proposing to set up a new streaming platform, saying that fans will be able to watch matches for free with ads or they could pay to watch without ads with additional features. A22 hopes that this platform will take off, fans will pay subscriptions and the prize pool would be higher as a result.One would hope that clubs would consider this and feel that they could make more money playing in the United League as opposed to the UEFA competition.
“At the moment I think Real Madrid would play in it. Other clubs will look at the proposals and it would all come down to money.”
