UEFA chief attacks breakaway European Super League trio

By Can Erozden

ANKARA (AA) - The UEFA head has once again censured Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus – remaining clubs of the breakaway European Super League (ESL).

"I wouldn't mind if they left," Aleksander Ceferin said in an interview with Germany's Der Spiegel on Friday.

"These people tried to kill football with their incompetent directors," he added.

In April, a dozen European giants from England, Italy, and Spain announced to form the ESL. But after a major backlash, nine of the 12 clubs quit the project before it fully took off.

UEFA condemned the failed project, and opened disciplinary proceedings against the three clubs for their roles in the league.

In May, Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus dismissed UEFA’s disciplinary action, saying they would not give up on the ESL.

The proceedings were suspended in June, and the three clubs entered the 2021-22 UEFA Champions League groups.

Citing the Real Madrid president's earlier statements, Ceferein said: "Florentino Perez complains, saying his club can only survive with the Super League, and then offers 180 million euros to sign Kylian Mbappe."

Mbappe is still with Paris Saint-Germain as the French club rejected a €160 million ($188 million) bid by Real Madrid.

Perez had described the Super League as a way to "save football."

"If we continue with the Champions League there is less and less interest and then it’s over,” he said.

"When you have no income other than television, you say that the solution is to make more attractive matches that fans from all over the world can see with all the big clubs, and we came to the conclusion that if instead of having a Champions League we have a Super League we would be able to alleviate what we have lost.

"This is not a league for the rich, it’s a league to save football."