The chairman of European Football Clubs (EFC), Nasser Al Khelaifi, has defended Florentino Pérez after Real Madrid and UEFA reached an agreement to end the Super League dispute, saying the Madrid president’s critics “are stupid and know nothing about football.”
A joint statement released by the LaLiga club and European football’s governing body on Wednesday announced that they had agreed a deal in principle “for the good of European club football,” bringing an end to a row which had been ongoing since the breakaway competition’s attempted launch in 2021.
Pérez and Madrid were the project’s key backers, with Madrid the last club remaining onboard after Barcelona confirmed their withdrawal last weekend, and Pérez vowing last November to continue to pursue the idea, as well as taking legal action against UEFA.
“I am proud and very happy,” Khelaifi — who has led opposition to the Super League project as president of Paris Saint-Germain and chairman of EFC, which was formerly known as the European Club Association — told the newspaper Marca on Wednesday.
“I want to thank everyone, all the parties involved in this historic agreement. To the UEFA president [Aleksander Ceferin], who does so much every day for European football … And, of course, to Florentino Pérez, a very elegant and intelligent man, a visionary, someone who is always trying to push things forward, to improve them.
“If anyone says or thinks that he has ‘lost’ today, they are stupid and know absolutely nothing about football. The most important thing here is that we all win. Nobody loses. Football wins, which is what we all wanted … The war was getting us nowhere, and now nobody loses.”
Speaking at the UEFA Congress in Brussels on Thursday, Ceferin agreed that “the only winner of this situation is football.”
“I’m personally very happy that Real Madrid and Barcelona joined the family again,” Ceferin said. “Honestly speaking, we were all tired of these disputes. We had some disagreements with the president of Real Madrid, Mr Florentino Pérez, but let me be clear we never lost respect — to ourselves, to each other, and we never lost the love for the game.”
12 clubs initially signed up for the Super League in April 2021, but the six Premier League participants soon departed the project in the face of overwhelming opposition.
Barcelona’s formally announced their exit on Saturday, leaving Madrid standing alone.
At Madrid’s annual assembly last November, Pérez had said he was “more convinced than ever” of emerging victorious in the battle for control of European football.
“I believe that today president Pérez is an even greater and better person,” Al Khelaifi told Marca on Wednesday. “He has led Real Madrid to do what is most beneficial for European football.
– Real Madrid, UEFA reach deal to end lawsuits over Super League
– Barcelona: ‘Relationship with Madrid’ among reasons for Super League withdrawal
– Barcelona, Real Madrid’s uneasy truce ends with Super League withdrawal
“[Barcelona] president [Joan] Laporta has shown great courage and leadership, and he deserves great recognition. In today’s final agreement, dialogue triumphs over division. I have believed in this peace process for a long time, but this very morning we didn’t know if it would happen or not.”
Last October, UEFA had confirmed that a number of meetings had taken place with the Super League’s promotors, A22 Sports Management, although they insisted that no changes to the UEFA Champions League were planned as a result.
“Following months of discussions conducted in the best interests of European football, UEFA, European Football Clubs (EFC), and Real Madrid CF announce that they have reached an agreement of principles for the well-being of European club football, respecting the principle of sporting merit with emphasis on long-term club sustainability and the enhancement of fan experience through the use of technology,” the statement released on Wednesday by Madrid, UEFA and EFC said.
“This agreement of principles will also serve to resolve their legal disputes related to the European Super League, once such principles are executed and implemented.”
