The European Super League is here: Announcement | Latest News | Teams | Format | Reaction

The European Super League was announced on Sunday night, but things haven't been the same since then. A league with the majority of the top clubs from Europe's top five leagues have gone under intense grilling and condemnation.

Nothing concrete from the other leagues came into focus, but the Premier League saw criticism of the idea and the clubs that decided to become a part of it. 

The Supporters' Trusts of Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool, and Arsenal put forth their statements in a very appalling manner in front of the UEFA and the FIFA bodies.

The European Super League is looked upon as a rival to the traditional UEFA Champions League. La Liga giants Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Atletico Madrid are also incorporated with Serie A's Juventus, AC Milan, and Inter Milan. 

Many ex-players who turned pundits such as Gary Neville, Rio Ferdinand, Jamie Carragher, Roy Keane, Micah Richards, etc called it a dark day in the history of football, a 'War on Football,' also calling it a disgrace, embarrassing, and a way to make the rich richer.

Arsenal Supporters' Trust tweeted, "The death of Arsenal as a sporting institution." 

Chelsea's Supporters' Trust released a statement that said, "They say to expect the unexpected, but today the Chelsea Supporters' Trust, our members and football supporters across the world have experienced the ultimate betrayal. 

This is a decision of greed to line the pockets of those at the top and it has been made with no consideration for the loyal supporters, our history, our future of the future of football in this country."

They also revealed that this bizarre decision-making has also risked the Blues' existence in the Premier League and the FA Cup. Tottenham Supporters' Trust also issued a statement citing how Tottenham were the first British club to win a European trophy. 

Words like betrayed were slammed and another firm request was made to the club owners to disassociate themselves from the league. 

What are your thoughts on this? Wouldn't you want the best players of your club to play the best from all around the world? Not to forget on almost a weekly basis. 

So why is this idea gathering so much heat? Before we get into that, let's understand the whole process of how the Super League is going to function, what is it about, and who are the people behind it.

What is the European Super League? 

Well, the European Super League will have teams ranging from 12 to 20 (Not confirmed yet) with 12-15 teams as the 'Founding Teams' with the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham, AC Milan, Atletico Madrid, Juventus, and Inter Milan all being the confirmed participants.

Out of the 15 founding clubs, five more teams will have the opportunity to qualify for the competition based on achievements in the latest season.

How will the European Super League function?

The teams participating in the European Super League will continue to be a part of their domestic leagues, and the European leagues if they are eligible, with midweek fixtures of the Super League to run throughout the year.

Teams will be segregated into a group of ten who will face each other twice, home and away, with the top three from each group progressing to play the quarter-finals. 

Teams finishing fourth and fifth in each group will battle it out in a two-legged playoff for the remaining two slots, with the other knockout stages going like they do in the UEFA Champions League, with the tournament concluding at the end of May.

Who are the people behind the idea of a European Super League? 

The Chairman is Florentino Perez (Current President of Real Madrid), Vice-Chairmen are Andrea Agnelli (Chairman of Juventus), and Joel Glazer (Owner of Manchester United).

The actual part begins from here. 

What is the league's structure?

• The European Super League will comprise of 20 clubs taking in the competition, which includes 15 founding members. 
• All the founding clubs cannot be relegated and they will always be a part of the tournament. 
• The remaining five teams will be shifting and fighting for their spots to play in the competition each season. 
• The fixtures will be played during the midweek just like the Champions League and Europa League fixtures while the clubs who are part of the European Super League will continue to be part of their respective national leagues.

This is where the trouble lies. Considering the magnificent amount of funds each of the clubs will receive (estimated to be 3.5bn) to have a fair competition is a must. 

But if 15 out of 20 clubs are confirmed to contest every year, it doesn't make sense for over more than 50 clubs around the world to just fight for five spots, does it?

Another fallacy in this system is how it affects the 'pyramid system' in each of Europe's top five leagues. A place in the European Super League not only gives undue advantage to the founding clubs but also becomes very gruesome on the Championship clubs, Tier 1 and Tier 2 clubs who are fighting day and night just to afford bread and butter.

Another issue is the timing. A European Super League, however, difficult to conduct was still feasible to an extent if it was to be played in 2018 or 2019. Not that it would still be played with such unjust rules, but there could've been some way to carry it out.

But in these tough times, where almost every club in the world has suffered drastically in terms of finances, a league favoring just the founding clubs with hefty money, while more than 90% of the clubs struggle for a very less amount compared to what the proposed league will offer is horrendous.

A huge section of the people thought that the European Super League was just a hypothetical arrangement to leverage from the UEFA bodies but the latest updates suggest that Ed Woodward, Chief Executive of Manchester United has resigned from his European Club Association (ECA) roles, and so have Andrea Agnelli and respective members from AC Milan, and Inter Milan.

This means despite the critics and condemnations from UEFA and the FIFA bodies, the founding clubs are adamant to become a part of the cup that could possibly be called the 'JP Morgan trophy,' considering the basis of control of the entire process.

Big names like Jurgen Klopp and Sir Alex Ferguson have already bashed this proposition of a European Super League, calling it an end to everything football has seen and witnessed over the last 70 years. 

Still, want it to happen? Well, only time will tell.

For more updates, stay tuned with Sportco, and we'll keep you updated with all the latest happenings and further developments related to the European Super League.