The nine founding clubs of the Superliga later regretted, including Atlético de Madrid, have taken another step in their strategy after leaving the project. The teams that decided to leave the Super League have signed a binding contract to be readmitted by the European Club Association (ECA), currently chaired by Nasser Al Khelaifi (PSG). The clubs in question are Manchester City, Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham, Chelsea, Milan, Inter and Atlético.
This was announced by the association: “In its decision, and after an exhaustive process of reintegration by the clubs and reevaluation by ECA in recent months, the ECA Executive Board took into consideration the recognition of the Clubs that the project of the so-called European Super League (“ESL Project”) it was not in the interests of the wider football community and their publicly communicated decisions to abandon said project entirely. The ECA board of directors also recognized the declared willingness of the clubs to actively engage with the ECA in its collective mission to develop European club football, in the open and transparent interest of all, not just a few. This decision by the ECA Board of Directors marks the end of a regrettable and turbulent episode for European football and it aligns with the ECA’s relentless focus on strengthening unity in European football. “
With this agreement, its exit towards external projects and outside of ECA and UEFA such as the Superliga, in whose boat the other three founders are still at the moment: Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus. UEFA threatened to sanction them and even opened a file, although everything has been left up in the air for the moment due to an order of the Commercial Court number 7 of Madrid that obliges the European Court to make a decision on whether there is a UEFA monopoly with competitions or whether another can be freely created.
After the bomb that led to the announcement of the Super League, Andrea Agnelli, then president of the ECA, immediately left his position and it passed into the hands of Al Khelaifi, who was one of the most favored by the turbulence of European football. The recovery by the ECA of nine of the dissident clubs is another advance in their interestsAlthough in the event that the European Court ruled in favor of the Super League, it would be necessary to see how strong the legal ties are that now allow them to reintegrate.