Newcastle United would-be buyers PCP Capital Partners have reacted as 12 European clubs have signed up to join a breakaway Super League ahead of UEFA’s plans to announce a new Champions League format.
Six English top-flight clubs are among the teams, but Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain have refused to join the movement.
20 European clubs consisting of 15 permanent members plan to kick the Super League off from 2022-23, but Europe’s biggest leagues and UEFA are against the idea and have released joint statements condemning it.
UEFA, the English Football Association, the Premier League, the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), LaLiga, the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) and Lega Serie A have today released a statement.
Read it in full here: 👇
— UEFA (@UEFA) April 18, 2021
Amanda Staveley’s husband and partner at PCP Capital Partners Mehrdad Ghodoussi have taken to Twitter to react to the development:
When football becomes just about money #superleague
— Mehrdad Ghodoussi (@ghodoussi) April 18, 2021
Staveley and Ghodoussi are part of the Saudi Arabia-led consortium trying to buy Newcastle, and fresh revelations emerged during the past week – a year since a £305 million takeover was agreed with Magpies owner Mike Ashley.
Clubs like Newcastle will be dealt massive financial blows should a European Super League be created, and it will be interesting to see how things go.
Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur want to join Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid, Juventus, AC Milan, Inter Milan in creating the Super League.
The six English clubs are not intending to resign from domestic football, but they need Premier League permission to join any new competition.
A breakaway league would spell the end of competition in domestic and European football, and doing this in the middle of a pandemic could be fatal for the likes of Newcastle.
UEFA, EPL, FA, Spanish and Italian football federations and La Liga have warned that clubs involved in the breakaway league will be banned from playing in any other competition at domestic, European or world level.
Players could also be denied the opportunity to represent their national teams.
In other news, ‘If I could go back now’ – 29-goal £30m hitman admits NUFC regret amid LUFC links.