Super League chairman Florentino Perez denies teams having 'Officially' left ESL just yet

Real Madrid chief Florentino Perez has admitted that the European Super League is currently "on standby" after nine of the 12 clubs involved announced their withdrawal. Perez, who named as chairman of the ESL in its inaugural season, also labelled the current Champions League format as "obsolete" and also hit back at the public reaction to the project. He also accused the Chelsea fans who gathered in protest outside Stamford Bridge of being stooges. The Real Madrid veteran also answered queries such as - 'Is Super League cancelled?' and 'Will teams pay fine for pulling out of European Super League?'

Is Super League cancelled? Florentino Perez comments after teams pull out of ESL

All six Premier League clubs which had initially signed up for the Super League — Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur — pulled out on Tuesday. Atletico Madrid, AC Milan and Internazionale followed them a day later. However, despite the Super League currently in tatters, Perez has insisted that the project is still not dead. 

Speaking in an interview with the late-night radio show El Larguero, Perez admitted he was “sad and disappointed” by the manner in which things played out over the ESL but insisted that the project was not dead. "We've been working on this project for three years... I've never seen so much aggression, it's as if it were orchestrated, it surprised us all. I've been in football for 20 years, it's aggression I've never seen in my life. We've had threats, it's like we killed someone, killed football." he said. 

Will teams pay fine for pulling out of European Super League? 

Perez had previously made it very clear that the 12 founding clubs all signed 'binding contracts', which prevents them from backing out of the competition should they get cold feet. However, the Spaniard remained calm on this front. He is yet to threaten any of the big six with a fine as — as far as he is concerned — the Premier League's big six are still very much involved in the competition, despite their statements to the contrary.

"Nobody has yet paid the penalisation fee for leaving. We are almost all still in this, they have not left yet. All 12 founder clubs signed the same contract, not a comma more or less." he explained.

Regarding the protests outside of Stamford Bridge on Tuesday, Perez seemingly inferred that La Liga President Javier Tebas had a role in those demonstrations. "There were 40 [Chelsea fans] and I can tell you who put them there. The same person who gave Cadiz [anti-Super League] t-shirts. That isn't normal. Football is a world of values."

Image Credits - AP