A22 Sports have unveiled revamped plans for a European Super League after the European Court of Justice said that banning clubs from joining a breakaway league was "unlawful."
Due to the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic, 12 clubs - Manchester City, Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea, AC Milan, Juventus, Inter Milan, Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid and Barcelona - announced plans to form a new division.
FIFA and UEFA have each threatened sanctions, which saw the case head to the European Court of Justice, with A22 Sports - the backers of the original ESL - confident of their chances of a positive outcome.
It has been ruled that any attempt to ban players from playing in a breakaway competition such as the Super League would be "unlawful", with a statement from the European Court of Justice reading: "The FIFA and UEFA rules making any interclub football project subject to their prior approval, such as the Super League, and prohibiting players from playing in those competitions, are unlawful.
"However, the powers of FIFA and UEFA are not subject to any such criteria. FIFA and UEFA are, therefore, abusing a dominant position.
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"Moreover, given their arbitrary nature, their rules on approval, control and sanctions must be held to be unjustified restrictions on the freedom to provide services.
"That does not mean that a competition such as the Super League project must necessarily be approved. The Court does not rule on that specific project in its judgment."
A22 Sports CEO Bernd Reichart said in response: "We have won the right to compete. The UEFA-monopoly is over. Football is free. Clubs are now free from the threat of sanction and free to determine their own futures.
"For fans: We propose free viewing of all Super League matches. For clubs: Revenues and solidarity spending will be guaranteed."
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Revamped plans for a new European Super League have now been announced, with the proposal a league system with 64 men's clubs across three leagues.
Meanwhile, the women's competition would see 32 clubs compete across two leagues, although there have not been any announcements regarding potential clubs or prize money.
The ruling from Europe's highest court has opened up the opportunity for new plans to be submitted, and the Football Supporters Association have said in a statement: "There is no place for an ill-conceived breakaway super league.
"Supporters, players and clubs have already made clear they don't want a stitched-up competition - we all want to see the trigger pulled on the walking dead monstrosity that is the European Zombie League. While the corpse might continue to twitch in the European courts, no English side will be joining.
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"The incoming independent regulator will block any club from competing in domestic competition if they join a breakaway super league. Success must be earned on the pitch, not stitched-up in boardrooms."
The original plans were put forward in April 2021, but the proposed division quickly collapsed due to the fury from a number of areas, including football fans.
The Independent journalist Miguel Delaney has been quoted as saying by BBC Sport: "All advantage lies with UEFA and crucially the Super League would still have to get authorisation from UEFA.
"What today's ruling does is it basically preserves the power of the governing bodies. It makes it clear that legally sporting merit needs to be protected."
Despite the ruling, there remain a number of obstacles for A22 Sports when it comes to forming a new competition.
Matt Law
