Joan Laporta will not give up on Super League dream
Barça are not getting off the Super League boat. They continue to bet heavily on the competition that they consider will be the economic salvation of the Blaugrana themselves in particular and of European football in general. Despite the setback caused by the (non-binding) opinion of the European Union's general lawyer, who agreed with FIFA and UEFA in their intention to sanction the clubs that participate in the new tournament, Barça remain convinced that the EU Court of Justice will finally allow European clubs to manage their own destiny and will endorse the Super League. There are about three months left for that sentence, in which Barça will continue, together with Madrid and Juventus, promoting the project. In fact, the presence of Laporta and Florentino at the conference that the CEO of A22 Sports Management, Bernd Reichart, gave yesterday in the Spanish capital, is the clearest demonstration of their continued support for the tournament.
The Super League is still very much alive, although many already consider it dead and buried. Laporta is optimistic. Very optimistic. He knows that the income from this competition (it is estimated that the champions could receive 300 million euros and there are 1,000 million to be distributed among the founders) would give Barça economic oxygen and help it become a financially sustainable club. But Laporta is also aware of the enormous difficulty of the process and understands that the final solution will involve an agreement between the promoters of the Super League and UEFA to build a new Champions League.
The nine clubs that distanced themselves from the project after its controversial start (remember Florentino's surreal presentation on a late-night television program closely related to the president of Madrid and the subsequent exchange of announcements at dawn) have not officially abandoned the Super League. To do so, they would have to pay a million-dollar compensation. And they haven't. They have simply stepped aside, leaving the leadership to the Laporta-Florentino-Agnelli trident, waiting to see how the judicial process evolves. But if the EU Court of Justice endorses the competition, they will get on the boat again because they know that it is the future of European football. And, above all, because there will be much more money to distribute.
