MANCHESTER, England (AP) — A newly proposed Super League would have promotion, relegation and exit from the breakaway competition, organizers said Thursday.
The European Union’s top court ruled UEFA and FIFA acted contrary to competition law by blocking plans for the Super League. In response, the league’s organizer, A22 Sports Management, revealed revised plans for what would be a rival to European club soccer’s elite competition, the Champions League.
A22 did not say when it hoped to launch the competition or what support it had from specific clubs. In fact, many big European clubs restated their opposition to the Super League after Thursday’s ruling.
NEW FORMAT
In its original form, the Super League proposed a 20-team tournament with 15 top clubs protected from relegation.
By confirming there would be promotion, relegation and exit from the competition, the Super League has addressed a big concern among fans.
However, under the plans outlined on Thursday, there doesn’t appear to be a direct path from a domestic league to what would be the Super League’s top two competitions. Currently the winners of domestic leagues gain entry to the following season’s Champions League.
The new competition would be divided into three leagues: Star, Gold and Blue, with Star being the top league and Blue the bottom.
The Star and Gold leagues would consist of two groups of eight, with the top four from each group advancing to a knockout stage from the quarterfinals to the final.
The Blue League would consist of 32 teams across four groups of eight. The top two from each group qualify for the quarterfinals.
Teams would play each other home and away in the groups, quarterfinals and semifinals. The final would be a one-off match at a neutral venue to determine each league champion.
Teams would be guaranteed a minimum of 14 games, which would be played midweek, as is the case with UEFA’s club competitions.
RELEGATION/PROMOTION
The bottom two teams from the Star and Gold leagues would be relegated to the league below and replaced by the finalists of those leagues.
Twenty of the 32 Blue league clubs would leave the competition and be replaced by teams based on their domestic league performance.
WOMEN’S LEAGUE
A proposed Women’s Super League would consist of 32 clubs across a Star league and a Gold league.
Those leagues would be split into two groups of eight and the top four from each group would advance to the quarterfinals.
Promotion and relegation to and from the Star league would be the same as the men’s. Four clubs would exit the Gold league and be replaced by teams based on domestic performance.
FREE STREAMING
A22 said fans would be able access all matches via a free streaming platform called Unify.
It would be offered via a tiered model based on advertising, subscriptions and advanced viewing features such as a choice of camera angles and live data.
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James Robson is at https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson
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