Daniel Levy releases statement as Tottenham withdraw from European Super League
Late on Wednesday night, Tottenham Hotspur released a statement on the club’s official website confirming their withdrawal from the breakaway European Super League.
In what have been a chaotic couple of days in the world of football, Sunday saw 12 “elite clubs” from Europe including Tottenham Hotspur announce the formation of a new competition – the European Super League.
Along with Tottenham, the rest of the so-called Big Six of England – Manchester United, Liverpool, Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal had all joined up, along with Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Juventus, AC Milan and Inter Milan.
However, the move brought about great backlash from all quarters – fans, pundits, ex-players, current players, managers. It seemed like nobody apart from the owners of these self-acclaimed “super clubs” were on board with the idea. There was a huge swell of protests among the fans and one by one, the chips started to fall.
First it was Chelsea and Manchester City who backed out, and soon the remaining four English clubs also backtracked from this abomination of an idea that would have changed the fabric of league football as we know it.
Daniel Levy releases statement
Tottenham confirmed their withdrawal in a statement that read:
“We can confirm that we have formally commenced procedures to withdraw from the group developing proposals for a European Super League (ESL).”
Chairman Daniel Levy also released a statement wherein he claimed he was regretful of the action that led to such anxiety but insisted that the decision to join had been made with an eye on the future of the club. He also went on to add that the game needs to change and evolve, in a lame attempt to justify the club’s actions.
We can confirm that we have formally commenced procedures to withdraw from the group developing proposals for a European Super League (ESL).#THFC ⚪️ #COYS
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) April 20, 2021
“We regret the anxiety and upset caused by the ESL proposal. We felt it was important that our club participated in the development of a possible new structure that sought to better ensure financial fair play and financial sustainability whilst delivering significantly increased support for the wider football pyramid.
“We believe that we should never stand still and that the sport should constantly review competitions and governance to ensure the game we all love continues to evolve and excite fans around the world. We should like to thank all those supporters who presented their considered opinions.”
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- Tottenham star Steven Bergwijn subjected to transfer enquiry before Jose Mourinho sacking
The entire idea collapsed within just two days of its announcing. It was laughable of the owners of these “super clubs” to think that such a thing would ever work. Irrespective of their backtracking now, strict actions need to be taken against all those involved so that a repeat of the same does not happen a few years down the line.
