Barcelona, Real Madrid and top Premier League clubs set to form European Super League

According to GFFN, 12 teams across three of Europe's top five leagues have announced the creation of a new competition called the European Super League. The new tournament will see all 20 teams play a league plus knockout tournament amongst themselves, thereby excluding them from the UEFA Champions League.

Five to six English clubs, three Spanish clubs and three Italian clubs are expected to announce the creation of a European Super League tonight. No French or German teams included #mulive [@LatourBertrand]

— utdreport (@utdreport) April 18, 2021

The teams who have signed up for this new competition include six Premier League sides, three La Liga clubs and another three teams from Serie A. The tournament, which is believed to have been kickstarted by Manchester United and Real Madrid, is set to start in September later this year.

The other teams involved include Liverpool, Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal, Chelsea, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Juventus, Inter Milan, and AC Milan. No Bundesliga side has joined yet and Ligue 1 giants Paris Saint-Germain have turned down an offer to join the Super League.

UEFA to sanction clubs involved in the European Super League

Joan Laporte Is Inaugurated As New FC Barcelona President

The rumors of the new tournament have brought a lot of backlash and objection from football fans, the media and football establishments all around the world. They believe that the idea behind the Super League is profit-oriented and against the idea of fair competition for all teams regardless of size and financial ability.

A statement in reaction to the new competition was released by the Premier League on Sunday evening in which the English football federation has condemned the proposal.

The statement from the Premier League talks about the fact that teams in England relish the idea of competing for a spot in Europe's most prestigious tournament, the Champions League and the concept of a European Super League would kill that dream.

UEFA has also condemned the concept in a statement released in conjunction with the Premier League, English Football Association, La Liga, Royal Spanish Football Federation, Italian Football Federation, and Serie A.

A statement from UEFA expressed similar thoughts to that released by the Premier League. It went further to say the Super League is "founded on the self-interest" of a few clubs. UEFA has also said it would do everything possible to stop the "cynical project" from getting implemented and has put certain consequences in place should the 12 teams involved go ahead with their plans.

Official statement from UEFA about Super League: “The clubs concerned will be banned from playing in any other domestic competition, European or International level, and the players could be denied the opportunity to represent their national teams”. 🔴🇪🇺 #SuperLeague #Uefa

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) April 18, 2021

UEFA has also said all players involved would be banned from playing any tournament at domestic, European, or world level that is organized by FIFA.