Nine of the rebel clubs that signed on to the doomed Super League project were welcomed back into the European Club Association (ECA).
Six Premier League teams – Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea, Tottenham and Arsenal – are back in the independent body overseeing the European clubs game, with LaLiga champions Atletico Madrid and Serie A rivals Milan and Inter.
That’s three-quarters of the initial dozen breakaways, with financially struggling Barcelona keeping their commitment to the ill-fated collaboration with Real Madrid and Juventus.
The 12 founding clubs of the Super League left the ECA in April before the new competition quickly collapsed amid protests from supporters and opposition from governing bodies.
“Following the receipt by the ECA of specific requests asking the ECA Board to consider the withdrawal of their previous April 2021 resignation requests, the ECA Board has agreed that the following clubs will retain their regular ECA membership for the current ECA membership 2019-23 cycle: AC Milan, Arsenal FC, Chelsea FC, Club Atletico de Madrid, FC Internazionale Milano, Liverpool FC, Manchester City FC, Manchester United FC and Tottenham Hotspur FC, “said an ECA statement.
“In its decision, and after an exhaustive club re-engagement and reassessment process by the ECA over the past few months, the ECA Board of Directors has taken into consideration the club recognition that the draft says of Super European League was not in the interests of the wider football community and their publicly communicated decisions to completely abandon said ESL project.
“The ECA Board of Directors has also recognized the clubs’ declared willingness to actively engage with the ECA in its collective mission of developing European club football – in the open and transparent interest of all, not some.”
The nine teams readmitted to the ECA, now chaired by Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser Al-Khelaifi, previously reached a financial deal with UEFA, amounting to a combined payment of 15million. euros and five percent of a season’s income. European competitions.
Additionally, the clubs agreed to a € 100million fine if they attempted to participate in any future unauthorized competition.
