European Super League promoters launch Unify League, call on UEFA to recognise it

LONDON : The promoters of a proposed European Super League have called on UEFA and FIFA to recognise their new competition, which they relaunched on Tuesday as the Unify League.

It is the latest attempt by A22 to get the competition off the ground after the original European Super League (ESL), backed by 12 of the continent's biggest clubs, was controversially launched in 2021 only for support to collapse.

Unlike the original plans which guaranteed the 12 clubs a place in the ESL, A22 says the new 96-club format across four leagues would be merit-based and more competitive than UEFA's current club competitions.

It also promised free streaming for fans on its own advertising-backed platform and a return to the home and away format ditched in the revamped Champions League group phase.

"A key feature is a revised qualification system in which club participation is based on annual, domestic league performance," A22 said in a statement on Tuesday outlining plans for the midweek competition.

A22 CEO Bernd Reichart said the proposed new competition would help address challenges in soccer such as rising subscription costs for fans, insufficient investment in women's football and dissatisfaction with the format and governance of the current pan-European competitions.

"We are convinced that with our format being meritocratic and being compatible with the calendar we have the right to establish such a competition, talk to clubs and start implementing it," Reichart told Reuters in Madrid on Tuesday.

The European Court of Justice ruled last December that European governing body UEFA had abused its dominant position in blocking the initial plans for the competition in 2021.

UEFA threatened sanctions against any clubs joining a breakaway