European Super League: ECA welcomes back 9 founding clubs just four months after expulsion

Four months after the now-defunct European Super League (ESL) was announced, nine of the founding teams have been welcomed back into the decision-making organization for overseeing the European club competitions again. The Premier League's Big Six along with AC Milan, Inter Milan and Atletico Madrid will be members of the European Club Association (ECA) again. Meanwhile, the likes of Barcelona, Juventus and Real Madrid are still insistent on planning the breakaway league.

European Super League history

The European Super League was announced in a joint statement by 12 of Europe's top clubs on April 18, 2021. All the 12 founding members quit the ECA. However, nine of the 12 clubs backed out of the controversial ESL following massive backlash from governing bodies and fans alike, particularly in England.

European Club Association is chaired by PSG president

The European Club Association is currently chaired by Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) president Nasser Al-Khelaifi. PSG never signed up for the European Super League that collapsed within 48 hours. The ESL clubs acknowledged to the ECA that the Super League project was not in the best interests of the football community, who criticized the clubs for venturing into this project because of greed.

The ECA statement read on Monday,

"The ECA executive board took into consideration the clubs' acknowledgement that the so-called European Super League project was not in the interests of the wider football community, and their publicly communicated decisions to abandon said ESL project completely."

The ECA board also acknowledges the clubs' stated willingness to engage actively with ECA in its collective mission to develop European club football — in the open and transparent interests of all, not the few."

ESL clubs made a deal with UEFA over 'wrongdoing'

Nine of the 12 clubs that pulled out of the European Super League agreed to a financial settlement with UEFA. As per the settlement, they accepted fines of €15 million ($18 million) to acknowledge their wrongdoing. Moreover, in order to prevent these clubs from threatening the system again, UEFA also sanctioned a €100 million fine for any club that may plan to form a breakaway league in the future.