Real Madrid reportedly expect the six Premier League clubs that signed up for the aborted European Super League venture in 2021 to cough up their share of the funds taken to mount this failed launch.
The ESL was doomed almost from its inception. In response to the strain put on club finances by the COVID-19 pandemic, Europe’s traditional elite concocted a closed shop competition, stripped of promotion or relegation, which would be governed by its founding members. A dozen clubs released a sensational joint statement on April 18, 2021 announcing the imminent scheme to rival UEFA’s Champions League.
Within three days, all six Premier League clubs had publicly withdrawn from a proposal which inspired fearsome fan backlash. They were soon joined by Atlético Madrid, AC Milan and Inter Milan in hastily back-pedalling.
European Super League’s Original Founding Members’ Exit Dates
- Manchester City: April 20, 2021
- Liverpool: April 20, 2021
- Arsenal: April 20, 2021
- Tottenham Hotspur: April 20, 2021
- Manchester United: April 20, 2021
- Chelsea: April 21, 2021
- Atlético Madrid: April 21, 2021
- AC Milan: April 21, 2021
- Inter Milan: April 21, 2021
- Juventus: June 6, 2023
- Barcelona: Feb. 7, 2026
- Real Madrid: Yet to withdraw, but struck an agreement with UEFA on Feb. 11, 2026
Juventus would hold on to the plan until June 2023, while Barcelona didn’t reliquinsh their grip until February of this year. Real Madrid would soon after reach “an agreement of principles for the wellbeing of European club football” with UEFA to finally bring an end to the ESL. Or so everyone thought.
A new report from The Athletic, however, has claimed that Real Madrid “want” Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur to cover what they are thought to owe when it comes to the cost of setting up the ESL, given their swift withdrawals effectively brought the plan to an end.
That sum could amount to as much as €80 million ($89.9 million), which would require each of the 12 founding clubs to stump up about $7.5 million. Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus, the longest hold-outs in the ESL scheme, are thought to have been sharing the financial burden up to this point.
Do Real Madrid Have a Legal Case?
While his grand plan to “save soccer” (from what, it’s never been quite established) was crumbling all around him in those days during the great exodus of clubs, Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez had a warning. “I’m not going to take my time to explain what a binding contract is here,” he snapped. “But the fact is, the clubs can’t leave.”
The dozen founders “signed a 120-page contract,” according to Juve’s ex-chairman Andrea Agnelli, when they settled on this ESL plot, ensuring they were not only conspirators but legally binding shareholders. It has been widely reported that 11 of the dozen remain indelibly tied to the project, with Inter Milan the only club to have managed to wangle their way out.
The finer details of the contract’s wording will ultimately dictate whether the clubs are forced to pay their share. Although, a savvy-enough lawyer could presumably argue either case given the vagaries which exist in even the most carefully studied documents.
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