A new chapter in the ongoing saga of European football has emerged with the official announcement of the “Unify League,” a rebranded version of the controversial Super League. The organization behind this initiative, A22 Sports, has unveiled a revised format that aims to challenge UEFA’s dominance in European competitions. Following a ruling from the European Court of Justice in 2023, which effectively denied UEFA’s monopoly on football tournaments, A22 is moving forward with its plans.
The Unify League was launched via a series of multilingual presentations on YouTube, and A22 has formally notified UEFA of its intentions through an official letter. The league’s slogan emphasizes its ambition: “The new European Super League aims to be the most exciting football competition in the world.” Real Madrid and Barcelona remain key supporters of this project, with Real Madrid pushing for significant changes in how European football is governed.
During a recent lecture at Harvard University, Real Madrid’s general director José Ángel Sánchez expressed the club’s commitment to the Unify League, stating, “The current governing bodies of football are like musicians on the Titanic; the system as we know it is finished. This was the logic behind the Super League, and it is even more urgent now. Real will continue to work on executing this idea. Why should UEFA govern a competition when clubs assume all the business risks? UEFA is trying to maintain its position but is only stifling innovation.”
📣NEWS: Today, we submitted our proposal for official recognition of a new European competition to UEFA and FIFA: introducing the Unify League, with modified qualification system based on domestic league performance.https://t.co/M72nhYtJ2o
Watch CEO Bernd Reichart explain: pic.twitter.com/yN81V5NVcI
— A22 Sports (@A22Sports) December 17, 2024
The proposed format for the Unify League includes 96 teams divided into four leagues: Star League, Gold League, Blue League, and Union League. Unlike the original Super League proposal, which featured invitations for select clubs, qualification for the Unify League will be based on performance in national leagues. Each league will have different structures: the Star and Gold leagues will consist of 16 teams each, while the Blue and Union leagues will feature 32 teams each.
In this format, clubs will compete in a round-robin style during the group stage, playing a total of 14 matches per season—seven at home and seven away. The top four teams from both the Star and Gold leagues will advance to knockout rounds, while only the top two from each group in the Blue and Union leagues will qualify for elimination stages. The final rounds will include two-legged quarter-finals followed by single-match semi-finals and finals held at neutral venues.