Juventus’ Andrea Agnelli ready for Super League ‘dialogue’ with UEFA

By AFP

ROME: Juventus chairman Andrea Agnelli, one of the prime movers behind the abortive Super League project, insisted Thursday he wanted to see fresh “dialogue” with European governing body UEFA on the issue.

“I say once again that, from our side, there is a desire for dialogue to address the problems of European football and that we do not fear the threats of these past months” to sanction heavily clubs which back the controversial project, Agnelli told a press conference.

Juve, Real Madrid and Barcelona are the only clubs remaining of an original 12 who tried to break away from UEFA’s Champions League and start their own tournament — the other nine withdrew within 48 hours of the Super League’s official launch on the night of April 18-19.

“We are confident that our legal action will bring satisfactory results but the true success will be when dialogue resumes in the interest of all,” said Agnelli, flanked by Real Madrid chairman Florentino Perez, who continues to promote the scheme.

Last month UEFA announced the suspension of disciplinary procedures against the rebel clubs after the governing body had earlier reached an accord with the other nine after they said they were junking the project.

The three remaining clubs have taken a legal case to European authorities and the European Court of Justice (CJEU) now must decide whether UEFA is abusing its dominant position by opposing the Super League project, a quasi-closed tournament. 

The question of whether sports bodies can legally block proposed rival competitions under European law has been referred to the Luxembourg-based CJEU by a Spanish judge. 

Agnelli resigned in April from his role as chairman of the European Club Association and from his position on UEFA’s executive committee in the wake of the scheme emerging but he insisted Thursday he retains a “very good rapport” with UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin despite the controversy. 

“With my resignations I behaved in the utmost correct manner. Time will allow the settling of misunderstandings,” he forecast.

Agnelli furthermore suggested Juve could boost their available capital by up to 400 million euros ($475 million) with its finances having taken a huge hit owing to the pandemic which the Serie A giants said were set to cause “direct and indirect” losses of around 320 million euros for 2019-2022.