KEIR RADNEDGE REPORTS: No escaping the obvious: UEFA appears seriously rattled by the threat of the Super League.

An interim assessment of the European federation’s right to shut out all rival would-be competition organisers is due to be delivered by the advocate-general of the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg next month.

In the meantime UEFA has been circling the wagons, notably in a two-hour meeting which ranked UEFA and a conclave of its supporters against three representatives of A22 Sports Management, a company which is close to the European Super League nucleus of Real Madrid, Juventus and Barcelona.

Both issued conflicting statements after the meeting.

A22, which had been represented by ceo Bernd Reichart plus founders Anas Laghrari and John Hahn, said: “The status quo is satisfactory to UEFA.

“This position was anticipated as UEFA has been the sole, dominant operator of European club competitions since 1955. This monopoly structure is currently being reviewed by the Court of Justice of the European Union which is expected to deliver its conclusions in Spring 2023.”

UEFA, casting aside the standard neutrality of its statements, snapped back.

It described A22 as having been “disrespectful” and, bizarrely, added: “A22 Sports Management has published an account of their visit to UEFA headquarters in Nyon today. UEFA is currently checking the recording to see if they are talking about the same meeting.

“If there is a ‘takeaway’ from today, it should be that the whole of European football opposes their greedy plan, as was clearly communicated in our media release.

“European football has constantly demonstrated its openness to change but it must be for the benefit of the whole game not just a few clubs.”

The UEFA panel was led by president Aleksander Ceferin and included Nasser Al-Khelaifi, European Club Association chairman and Paris Saint-Germain president, as well as officials from Europe’s top leagues and supporters organisations.

UEFA added: “In line with the unity of European football, UEFA and the participating football stakeholders once again unanimously rejected the rationale underpinning projects such as ESL during today’s discussion.

“The participants took note, with surprise, the claims of A22 Sports CEO that this company is not representing any clubs in any capacity, including the three clubs who continue to openly support the project.”

Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus were among 12 clubs to announce a breakaway Super League in April last year but, after a hostile reaction from across the game including fans and governments alike, the move promptly collapsed.

All six English clubs – Manchester City, Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur – plus Internazionale, AC Milan and Atletico Madrid withdrew from the project.

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