Barcelona confirm they're one of founders of a new European Super League
The Catalan club released a statement on Monday confirming their involvement
Twelve of the biggest clubs in Europe, including Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico, have announced an agreement to create a new European Super League.
The plan is to have a competition involving 20 teams -- 15 of which will be guaranteed of their participation every year -- with matches played midweek. The teams would have to leave the Champions League, therefore, although they plan to continue in their domestic leagues.
In addition to the three Spanish teams, Italian sides Milan, Inter Juventus and English clubs Liverpool, Manchester City, Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham are also involved.
Madrid president Florentino Perez is one of the leaders of the project and would be the league's first president.
Statements first arrived on Sunday night but Barça didn't release anything until Monday:
STATEMENT FROM FC BARCELONA
Barcelona havw reached an agreement with eleven other of the most important clubs in Europe to form a new competition, the Superleague which will be run by the Founding Clubs and is born out of the desire to be best sporting club competition in the world.
FC Barcelona, AC Milan, Arsenal FC, Atlético Madrid, Chelsea FC, FC Internazionale Milano, Juventus FC, Liverpool FC, Manchester City, Manchester United, Real Madrid CF and Tottenham Hotspur have come together as founding clubs and three more clubs will be invited to join before the inaugural season which will begin as soon as possible.
Going forward, the Founding Clubs look forward to holding discussions with UEFA and FIFA to work together in partnership to deliver the best outcomes for the new League and for football as a whole.
The formation of the Super League comes at a time when the global pandemic has accelerated the instability in the existing European football economic model. Further, for a number of years, the Founding Clubs have had the objective of improving the quality and intensity of existing European competitions throughout each season, and of creating a format for top clubs and players to compete on a regular basis.
