Following the backlash, the six English clubs announced their withdrawal from the competition and, subsequently, also Juventus, resulting in the project becoming dormant, and starting a legal dispute between the Super League and UEFA to be taken up by the Court of Justice of the European Union.
[7] From 1971 to 1991, there were three seasonal European competitions, solely based on knockout rounds (double-legged single-elimination tournament), whose access was based on three distinctions (title holders not included): Although the European Champions Cup was regarded as the most prestigious, as its title holders were paired with their South American counterparts in the Intercontinental Cup for the inter-club world title and the UEFA Cup was the tournament that gained the most commercial revenue and the highest TV share,[8] as well as described as the most difficult European competition to win due its unpredictability, its contestants' level and having different winning teams each season;[9] the general level of the three competitions was even.
[12] In 1987, then AC Milan owner Silvio Berlusconi, Real Madrid president Ramón Mendoza and Glasgow Rangers secretary Campbell Ogilvie concluded the European Champions Cup format "obsolete"[3] and proposed to UEFA, led by its president Jacques Georges, to create a new competition with a single round-robin format –dubbed the "Super League"[5]– that would be more attractive for international television broadcasters, would be able to allow the contestant teams to earn more income,[13] and would give them more possibilities to progress through it[14] for "economical and management guarantees".
[16] In 1990, Mendoza officially presented the project to the confederation and, according to an article published by Scotland on Sunday, UEFA was to agree with it after reach a deal with Bayern Munich, Madrid and Milan, among other clubs;[17] but the confederation rejected that project in 1991 and, after being punished in economic terms, Berlusconi and Mendoza and announced sporting sanctions sine die for both clubs, reformed the competition introducing a group stage in that season, increasing the overall number of matches,[18] and rebranding it as the UEFA Champions League in 1992 for commercial and media purposes.
[14] Despite that reform, the dissolutions of the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia as well as the breakup of Yugoslavia between 1991 and 1993 drastically affected the sporting level in all these countries,[19] significantly increasing the number of clubs involved in international competitions – representing up to 22 of its former constituent states[20] – although all of them with a lower sporting level than that shown by Eastern European clubs until the early 1990s,[18] which meant that their play-offs against teams from more powerful leagues generated lesser expectation from fans and media,[19] with audiences for the UEFA competitions, as a consequence, significantly decreasing.
Both planned tournaments, based on the North American sports system, would be sponsored by Italian corporation Media Partners,[22] but that project was abandoned after FIFA, UEFA and its affiliated national associations announced sanctions against all involved clubs in it.
[4] All those clubs to have won five of more official international titles were ECF's permanent members and gained representation in the confederation's Competitions Organising Committee.
"[41] Perez stated that he would push for a break-away competition featuring Europe's traditional powerhouses if UEFA didn't do more to ensure these teams played each other annually.
[42] Under Perez's plan, the continent's best teams would remain part of their respective national systems, but would be guaranteed the opportunity to play each other at the conclusion of the regular league season.
[42] In August 2009, Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger predicted a super league would become reality within ten years time due to revenue pressure on the continent's elite teams.
[44] In April 2013, Scotland manager Gordon Strachan said that he believes the Old Firm clubs of Celtic and Rangers would join a future new 38-club two-division European super league.
[46] In November 2018, Football Leaks claimed that there had been undercover talks about the creation of a new continental club competition, the European Super League, which would begin play in 2021.
UEFA also reiterated that any clubs involved in a Super League would be banned from all other domestic, European, and world competitions, and their players could be denied the opportunity to represent their national teams.
[75] Some analysts stated that the British government intervention, which some such as Alex Webb arguing that a diminished Premier League due to the Super League could hurt Britain's soft power as well,[76] led to a domino effect by causing the English Big Six to withdraw after the Football Association threatened to ban participating clubs from domestic football,[77] and causing all but three clubs (Barcelona, Juventus, and Real Madrid) to withdraw with the project not able proceed and therefore had to be put on standby.
[78] Nonetheless, Pérez stated that none of the founding clubs had officially left the association,[79] even as they were sanctioned by UEFA and signed Commitment Declaration to pay €100 million if they were ever to join an unauthorised competition,[80] as they were tied to binding contracts,[81] and vowed to work with the governing bodies to make some form of the Super League work, whilst blaming the English clubs of losing their nerve in face of opposition and the footballing authorities for acting unjustifiably aggressively.
[82] On 31 May, the Super League filed a complaint to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) against UEFA and FIFA for their proposals to stop the organisation of the competition.
[87] In December 2023, a final decision by the European Court of Justice stated that FIFA and UEFA's rules that banned clubs from joining rival competitions, such as the Super League, were unlawful.