TheCable

Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus have defended their decisions to form the European Super League (ESL) amid what they call “threats” from UEFA.

The three clubs are the only remaining members of the widely denounced ESL initiated on April 18 after nine others pulled out following heated backlash from fans across the world.

But in a joint statement on Saturday, the trio condemned the threats they claimed the founding members of the ESL have continued to face since the initiative was announced.

The clubs noted that they have faced “unacceptable third-party pressures [and] threats… to abandon the project,” adding that such “is intolerable under the rule of law.”

They also alleged that the move was a calculated step to make them abandon “their right and duty to provide solutions to the football ecosystem via concrete proposals and constructive dialogue”.

The clubs added that while they are willing to reconsider their approach to the original idea, it would be “irresponsible” of them to abandon the one that birthed the ESL, which they said, is to address extant shortcomings in elite football.

“We would be highly irresponsible if, being aware of the needs and systemic crisis in the football sector, which led us to announce the Super League, we abandoned such mission to provide effective and sustainable answers to the existential questions that threaten the football industry,” the statement read.

“The material issues that led the 12 founding clubs to announce the Super League weeks ago have not gone away.

“To honour our history, to comply with our obligations towards our stakeholders and fans, for the good of football and for the financial sustainability of the sector, we have the duty to act in a responsible manner and persevere in the pursuit of adequate solutions, despite the unacceptable and ongoing pressures and threats received from UEFA.”

In the statement, the clubs also expressed “regret to see” the other nine clubs that pulled out earlier “now found themselves in such inconsistent and contradictory position when signing a number of commitments to UEFA”

The development comes as UEFA approved reintegration measures for the nine clubs – Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur, including AC Milan, Inter Milan and Atletico Madrid — that denounced the ESL earlier.

In a statement on Friday, Europe’s football governing body said each of the clubs must “agree to have substantial fines imposed if they seek to play in such an unauthorised competition (€100 million) or if they breach any other commitment they have entered into in the Club Commitment Declaration (€50 million).”

It added that they “will be subject to the withholding of 5% of the revenues they would have received from UEFA club competitions for one season, which will be redistributed.”