The European Super League has relaunched as the 'Unify League' and written to UEFA to ask for official endorsement.
Following a 10-month consultation process with stakeholders, the proposed format now has four tiers - star, gold, blue and union. Ninety-six teams will be involved with annual qualification, ensuring the proposal is meritocratic, especially compared to the original 'closed' European Super League in 2021.
The star league and gold league will both have 16 teams, with the other two consisting of 32. Teams will play in groups of eight, home and away, followed by a traditional knockout face.
Real Madrid and Barcelona Back A22 Sports
New format comes as more peaceful approach
Real Madrid president Florentino Perez
A22 Sports, the Madrid-based promoters of the new Unify League, are driving plans. They are firmly supported by both Barcelona and Real Madrid and have close ties to Florentino Perez. Their plan is for games to be streamed for free on the direct-to-fan Unify streaming platform, although viewers are likely to have to pay a subscription if they want the ad-free option should the project get off the ground. If UEFA do endorse the competition without issue, which Unify League organisers believe they are obligated to under EU law, it could launch as early as the 2026/27 season.
Progress has been made following December 2023's European Court of Justice ruling, which A22 argue ended UEFA's "monopoly" and established an anti-competitive or dominant position in the market. FIFA and UEFA also claimed victory, stating the same ruling actually upheld their position.
"We have spoken to a broad group of stakeholders, including clubs, leagues and fans," A22 co-founder John Hahn told GIVEMESPORT. "The ECJ ruling kind of thawed the ice and after 10 months of input, we have now launched the Unify League. The format is entirely meritocratic and very clear. And we feel the right next step is to seek official recognition from UEFA. It's also our way of saying we don't want a fight. The very name of the league shows we want to take a more peaceful approach.
"The Unify League is the next logical step for us. The CJEU ruling laid the groundwork for new governance at European level and that is very important. We have further refined the format after speaking to a wide variety of stakeholders to whom we listened intently. It's led to four leagues, fully meritocratic and we believe will lead to an incredible series of matches which are more affordable and easier to watch by all fans."
“A22 is focused on ensuring the sustainable growth and development of football," added A22 CEO Bernd Reichart. "Our extensive engagement with key stakeholders revealed a number of pressing challenges facing the sport, including increasing subscription costs for fans, an overloaded player calendar, insufficient investment in women’s football, and dissatisfaction with the format and governance of the current pan-European competitions. Our proposal is designed to directly address these challenges.
“Now is the time for all stakeholders, including UEFA and FIFA, to bring real innovation that prioritises fan experience and affordability, player welfare and match competitiveness. We remain committed to fostering relationships built on mutual respect, transparency, and constructive dialogue. The fans, players, clubs, leagues and other groups that make up the football community deserve nothing less."
The new European Super League format has been revealed after court ruling Related
European Super League Relaunched as the 'Unify League'
Plans to move forward with the new proposal are said to be difficult for UEFA to stop
UEFA Sent Letter Detailing Fresh Proposals
LaLiga president Tebas publicly condemns latest plans
La Liga president Javier Tebas
A22 have already sent a detailed letter to UEFA, addressed to General Secretary Theodore Theodoridis, while copying in FIFA General Secretary Mattias Grafström. In it, they address several key aspects of their proposal, stressing it is meritocratic and puts clubs and fans first.
"Simply put, legal disputes should be behind us," the letter reads. "The highest court in the European Union has spoken. The time has come to move forward collaboratively for the benefit of the sport."
Both FIFA and UEFA question whether the proposed league would be truly free-to-air and point out player workload would only increase with it, although A22 maintain their format would replace current European competition. There is certainly no way it could exist alongside the Unify League.
One club critic termed the Unify League as "a Perez pantomine", adding there is little evidence of a business plan behind it, while LaLiga president Javier Tebas has publicly condemned the latest proposal.
"A22 are back with new ideas," said Tebas. "They produce formats as if they were churros, without analysing sporting effects on competitions. The television model they propose only favours the big clubs, and they know it, while endangering the stability of the national leagues and their clubs."
It remains to be seen how quickly the Unify League could turn into a reality, but one thing is clear - A22, and Barcelona and Real Madrid, are not giving up on their dream.