Why European Super League failed—from the management perspective analysis

Abstract

Due to the financial strain of the COVID-19 pandemic, Real Madrid football club’s president, Florentino Perez initiated the idea of the European Super League, which included, and was supported by a consortium of football’s most recognizable clubs. This breakaway league was formed with the goal to provide extra competition, as well as incomes for the competing clubs and hoped to eventually serve as an alternative for pre-existing competitions such as UEFA’s Champions, Europa and Conference leagues. This interrogation will include how the league and its leaders failed to rally popular support for its inauguration, how the league faced constant legal action, as well as sanctions, from pre-existing governing bodies from FIFA and UEFA as it failed to gain their cooperation, and how the infrastructure and aim of the novel league also faced staunch opposition from the players themselves. Towards the conclusion of this essay, a series of suggestions will also be provided, primarily detailing how the league and its leaders could’ve, to an extent, remedied these problems, such as the major conflict of interest it provides for the clubs, as well as the exclusive structure which it proposed.