UEFA chief suggests which clubs will be treated leniently after European Super League involvement

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UEFA chief suggests which clubs will be treated leniently after European Super League involvement

Following the withdrawal en masse of most clubs involved in the ill-fated breakaway league, the footballing world has called for those responsible to be held accountable for their actions.

In an exclusive with the Daily Mail, UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has held firm to the idea of sanctions for the 12 clubs involved in plans to form a European Super League, suggesting that some could be handed more severe punishments than others.

“Everyone has to take consequences for what they did and we cannot pretend nothing happened. You cannot do something like that and just say: ‘I’ve been punished because everybody hates me’,” the Slovenian said.

“They don’t have problems because of anyone else but themselves. It’s not OK what they did and we will see in next few days what we have to do.

“But for me it’s a clear difference between the English clubs and the other six. They pulled out first, they admitted they made a mistake. You have to have some greatness to say: ‘I was wrong.’

“For me there are three groups of this 12 — the English Six, who went out first, then the other three [Atletico Madrid, AC Milan, Inter] after them and then the ones who feel that Earth is flat and they think the Super League still exists. And there is a big difference between those. But everyone will be held responsible. In what way, we will see.

“I don’t want to say disciplinary process but it has to be clear that everyone has to be held responsible in a different way. Is it disciplinary? Is it the decision of the executive committee? We will see. It’s too early to say.”

It’s potentially very positive news for the Premier League outfits involved, whilst the exact nature of the punishments to be dished out across Europe is still unclear.

Certainly, the longer the likes of Real Madrid and Barcelona hold on to the broken dream of the Super League, the more severe the sanctions that will likely be levelled against the La Liga giants will be – a level of boldness they can’t really afford given their struggles with debt.

As far as the English top-flight goes, one might imagine that tighter controls and reform concerning the balance of fan/ownership say in the running of clubs will continue to be the leading topic of the day.