European Super League unveils new format

Events are happening one after the other on 21st December. The 'domino effect' triggered by the European Court ruling against the monopoly of FIFA and UEFA, which opens the door to projects such as the Europeam Super League, has led A22 Sports, the company behind the project, to give more details about what it wants this new competition format to be like in the near future for the sport. Although some hints have already been given, something clear was missing.

There were many questions about what the format of the European Super League would be like: How many teams would make it up? Would it be free-to-enter? How would the rights be distributed financially? Although there are still some questions to be answered, after the video published by the Superliga, it is now possible to understand a little more, at least on a sporting level, what this new competition that they are trying to draw is like. Their plan is to have 64 clubs and 3 divisions: Star, Gold and Blue.

- Star League (16 teams): 2 groups of 8 participants. The top 4 from each group in the league phase advance to the quarter-finals. Thereafter, standard format with home and away matches. Final on neutral pitch.

- Gold League (16 teams): 2 groups of 8 participants. The top 4 from each group in the League phase advance to the quarter-finals. Knockout rounds, as in the Star Division.

- Blue League (32 teams): 4 groups of 8 participants. The top 2 from each group in the League phase advance to the quarter-finals. Knockout rounds, as in the Star Division.

First, there would be a league phase that would run from September, when the competition would kick off, until April. Each team would play 14 matches, split equally between home and away. Then, in the play-offs, there would be a champion for each division. Midweek matches in all phases.

 

December 21, 2023

How to access each category?

In each edition, the Super League guarantees promotion and relegation. The Star League and Gold League have the same criteria: each season, the two lowest-ranked teams in the Star League will be relegated to the Gold League, which will promote its two best teams to the top tier. The bottom two teams in the Gold League will be relegated to the third tier, the Blue League.

What about the Blue League? With an open bracket of 32 participants, the top two finishers will move up to the Gold League, but there will be much more competition to stay in the division. Of those 32 clubs, only 12 will remain: the two that are promoted and the 10 that escape the relegation zone, which will leave 20 clubs out of the Super League with their relegation.

From there, the feature that the European Super League is proud of comes into play: the domestic leagues will continue to open the door to play in Europe. It remains to be clarified how those access tickets will be divided according to which countries.