11th February 2026
February 11 – The final nail in the Super League coffin now looks to have been hammered into place. Earlier this week Barcelona announced they had pulled out of the breakaway European club project, leaving just Real Madrid and its president Florentino Perez at the last man standing.
Now they too have backed down (and out), but perhaps too late to unpick their pariah status. It is a spectacular humiliation for Perez who chased fame and coin to the exclusion of all and everyone else in a war where his opponents championed the European sports model, inclusion and the importance of shared wealth for the good of the game.
That Perez kept going with it as long as he did is either a credit to his chutzpah, or a sign of how far detached he is from the broad base of the game and what it means to be a good European football citizen. Or perhaps, in keeping with current global leadership in a world order that is wobbling, he is just a phenomenally greedy individual.
The news was broken via a joint statement from UEFA, European Football Clubs (EFC), and Real Madrid that said all parties had agreed a way forward “respecting the principle of sporting merit with emphasis on long-term club sustainability and the enhancement of fan experience through the use of technology.”
This came after what the statement said was “months of discussions conducted in the best interests of European football”.
While not explicitly stated in the announcement, any further threat of legal action against UEFA will be blocked as well as presumably the request for UEFA to sanction any new European club competition.
Madrid and Barcelona had won a European Court of Justice case against Champions League organiser UEFA ruling that they could not lawfully prevent a new league being formed. However, none of the 10 clubs that had signed up but pulled out of the original European Super League proposal in April 2023 returned to the project which was originally mooted to grow to 20 teams.
The proposed Super League was premised on more money for Europe’s giant clubs who would play each other more frequently, generating significantly more commercial income that they would share within the league as prize money that was more than clubs earn from the Champions League, and without the jeopardy of potentially not qualifying.
Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich were notable in their refusal to join the breakaway that was met with furious condemnation by football stakeholders and angry protests from fans.
Chelsea’s then chairman, American Bruce Buck, said, as the club hastily withdrew from the Super League as their fans massed at their gates: “It seems our fans would rather go to Burnley on a cold mid-winter evening.” It was his and his club’s ‘go and eat cake’ moment. Fans actually want the bread and butter of their domestic league seasons – wherever it takes them.
While Real Madrid reportedly attempt to spin the agreement along the lines that it was their actions that forced a Champions League reformat, the reality is it wasn’t. This resolution is a big win for UEFA and an acknowledgment of the wider moral principles of governing and sharing wealth with the whole of their game.
A novel concept in today’s version of the world.
Contact the writer of this story at [moc.l1770841205labto1770841205ofdlr1770841205owedi1770841205sni@n1770841205osloh1770841205cin.l1770841205uap1770841205](javascript:;)