Recently, there’s been some big news in the soccer world. In Europe, a so-called “Super League” was in the works, involving the biggest and most well-known clubs in the continent competing, including Barcelona, Real Madrid, Inter Milan, AC Milan, Juventus, Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea, Tottenham, Liverpool, Arsenal and Atletico Madrid.

We asked 06880 blog owner and Staples Boys Varsity Soccer Coach Dan Woog what he thought about this league, and he also claimed that it is a bad idea.

“It would have taken away everything that makes soccer great: the belief that on any given day, any team can win,” said Mr. Woog. He also commented that this would only be good for owners and “would have rewarded the greed of owners, and hurt players, coaches and fans.”

The aim of the new league: to produce a more “interesting” environment of soccer for viewers around the world. However, the true reason behind the scheme is more bothersome: greed. This would have been a huge source of money for the clubs, allowing them to decide on their own salaries from the league.

According to The New York Times, it is estimated that these teams would have secured around $400 million just from acquiring “‘a secure financial foundation.’” This is four times the amount won by defending Champions League champions Bayern Munich, showing just how much money this league would generate for these big teams.

The league would have worked similarly to the existing ones. According to The New York Times, 15 of the founding teams, with 12 of them already announced and three more being awaited, would automatically play each year, with five other teams chosen in some way that is still undecided. Those 20 teams would then be divided into two divisions of 10, and all the teams would play each other twice, once home and once away. After all of these games, the four best performing teams would go to a playoff over the course of a month to determine the winner that year. Then, in the following year, the 15 founding teams would remain, no matter how poorly they did in the last season.

Now, according to Technosports.co.in, this league presents both pros and cons. The top clubs would be playing each other every week, presenting entertaining events for fans, and they would bring in significantly more money, which can help them grow and thrive even more. On top of that, these clubs might still be able to compete in their home leagues and competitions, meaning that this Super League could simply be something extra that adds to the already exciting soccer season in Europe.
However, the website points out some big flaws in the league, talking about how there could be a threat of having well-known and skilled players being banned from playing internationally such as in the World Cup, and how there would be no real competition as the founding teams would face no risk of being relegated. Most importantly, soccer could be ruined and nothing would be the same again. Since these teams would become the center of attention, smaller teams not included in the Super League would lose income, resulting in lesser quality normal league games and the fall of European soccer, aside from the Super League.

We asked eighth Grader Sebi Cruz what his thoughts were on the Super League, and how he thought it would affect soccer.
He said that it would just be horrible, especially when you take into consideration the fact that the top players from these teams might not be able to represent their nations in international play. He also felt that the league would “take away some flavor from the teams’ respective leagues” and that we simply “don’t need it.”

Also, as seen recently in the news, he said how “even fans of the ‘super clubs’ recognized this, and rose up in protest.”
Finally, he talks about how soccer is a large enough sport that everyone can have a chance and take part, not just the good teams. “The soccer world is huge, and there’s a spot for everyone at the table — the same table, not a ‘special’ one.”