Barcelona remain committed to the premise of a Super League though they concede the planned format of the competition needs to be amended.
Many had expected the La Liga giants to announce their withdrawal from the breakaway league following the revelation that eight of the 12 originally announced teams would no longer be supporting the plans.
Alongside Barcelona, only Milan, Juventus and Real Madrid have not explicitly walked away from the Super League, though the two aforementioned Serie A sides have released statements addressing concerns over the competition’s current format.
With just four teams remaining, Barça have remained steadfast in their commitment to shake up European football as we know it, but in a statement released on their official website they did concede the proposal needed to be amended.
“Given the public reaction that the aforementioned project has generated in many and various spheres, there is no question that FC Barcelona appreciates that a much more in-depth analysis is required into the reasons that have caused this reaction in order to reconsider, if necessary, and to the required extent, the proposal as originally formulated and resolve all those issues, always for the good of the general interest of the football world. Such in-depth analysis needs time and the necessary composure to avoid taking any rash action,” the statement read.
“We feel it is equally important to highlight the objective fact that a court of justice has already granted urgent legal protection as requested, thus confirming right of the initiative on the part of the founding clubs of the Super League project.
“In this regard, FC Barcelona considers that it would be improper for the necessary process of reflection and debate to be established under criteria of unjustified pressure and intimidation.”
The statement went on to explain the reason the club had agreed to join the Super League in the first place, claiming the opportunity was simply too good to turn down.
“Barcelona shares the view of most major European football clubs, and even more so given the current socio-economic climate, that there is a need for structural reforms to guarantee the financial sustainability and feasibility of world football by improving the product that is offered to fans around the world and by consolidating and even increasing the fan base on which this sport is sustained, which is its mainstay and greatest strength,” the statement added.
“In this context, the FC Barcelona board of directors accepted, as a matter of immediate urgency, the offer to form part, as the founding member, of the Super League, a competition designed to improve the quality and attractiveness of the product offered to the football fans and, at the same time, and as one of FC Barcelona’s most inalienable principles, seek new formulas for solidarity with the football family as a whole.
“The decision was made in the conviction that it would have been a historical error to turn down the opportunity to be part of this project as one of its founding members. As one of the world’s top sports club, our intention shall always be to be at the forefront, this being an indispensable part of the club’s identity and its sporting, social and institutional spirit.
“In whatever case, FC Barcelona, as a club that always has been and always shall be owned by each and every one of its members, expressly reserved the right to submit such an important decision to the final approval of its competent social bodies following careful and very necessary study of the proposal.”
