(Reuters) – Napoli President Aurelio De Laurentiis welcomed the European Court of Justice ruling on the Super League project, saying UEFA and FIFA do not understand the business of the sport and the need to grow club revenues.
Europe’s top court said the ruling bodies had contravened EU law by stopping the formation of a Super League, but clubs and leagues came together to denounce the project, committing to playing in competitions run by UEFA.
Spanish clubs Real Madrid and Barcelona are the only clubs still supporting the Super League project and De Laurentiis said he had discussed the situation with Real President Florentino Perez.
“The Super League was a wrong move (in 2021), which however brought about this change. Now we need to do some serious thinking,” De Laurentiis told Corriere dello Sport.
“I spoke with Florentino Perez and we agree to put some real entrepreneurs around the table, not just nominal presidents. Because today football is administered by elderly people, but above all they are without vision.”
Napoli, the Italian champions, were not among the 12 clubs behind the original plan for the breakaway league in 2021. The three Serie A teams involved were Juventus, AC Milan and Inter Milan.
Milan and Inter pulled out within 48 hours after an outcry from fans and the threat of sanctions. Juve opted to withdraw earlier this year after the club’s board changed.
The EU’s top court said FIFA and UEFA had abused their dominant position by forbidding clubs to compete in a European Super League when they were threatened with sanctions.
“The dominant position of UEFA and FIFA, which Europe today censures, has served to bestow bonuses in exchange for consent,” De Laurentiis added.
“Those who have governed up to now as monopolists have not understood that football is a business and needs growing revenues.
“If I invest hundreds of millions to participate in a circus that distributes peanuts, makes no profit and forces me to play more and more to keep an unproductive bandwagon going, the game is not worth it.”
(Reporting by Federico Maccioni in Milan and Rohith Nair in Bengaluru, editing by Ed Osmond)
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