The European Super League is back with a bang after being rebranded as the Unify League, with two La Liga clubs reportedly backing the new project
The European Super League project has undergone a makeover and is now known as the Unify League, promising free viewing for fans.
This comes after the original Super League proposal was hastily abandoned in 2021 following fan protests against the idea of certain clubs automatically qualifying each year.
The Telegraph reports that the revamped project has done away with this system, proposing annual qualification for each of the four leagues within the Unify League. The competition would allegedly be live-streamed via a ‘Unified’ platform offering free access but with a high level of advertising content.
Alternatively, viewers could opt to pay a subscription fee to remove ads, similar to Spotify and YouTube. The plan involves 96 teams divided across four tiers.
The top two divisions, the Star League and Gold League, would each comprise 16 teams split into two groups of eight. These eight clubs would play each other twice, with the top two teams from each of the four groups progressing to a final eight.
The final stages would kick off with two-legged quarter-final ties before single-leg semi-finals at a neutral venue, leading up to the final. The third and fourth tiers, the Blue and Union Leagues, would follow a similar format, reports the Express.
It looks like only Real Madrid and Barcelona are on board with the new Unify League proposal, compared to the 12 teams that were involved in the original Super League idea, which included six top-notch Premier League squads.
The masterminds at A22 Sports reckon they’ll get the green light from UEFA to push forward with their league, thanks to a court decision saying FIFA and UEFA would be out of line if they didn’t make sure their approval procedures for alternative tournaments were fair and square.
John Hahn thinks they’ve done their homework with clubs, leagues, and fans, boasting: “We have listened intently to a broad group of clubs, leagues and fans and with these changes we believe we have a lot of support.
“We are not expecting the public support of clubs at this time. Logically, that will come following the official recognition of the Unify League.”