Real Madrid president Florentino Perez, who was the mastermind behind the European Super League plan, has admitted that the six English clubs involved were "coerced" into pulling the plug on their involvement.
In one of the biggest stories that has rocked football in recent history, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur all signed up to the plan of forming a 12-strong breakaway European Super League, only for them all to back out less than 48 hours after the plans were unveiled back in April.
The supporters of all six clubs were nothing short of disgusted with their club's plan to join the breakaway league, joining the likes of Real Madrid and Barcelona in being founding members.
Since the plan blew up, all six of the English clubs initially involved in the scheme have been punished, alongside Atletico Madrid, AC Milan and Inter Milan, with all nine of them forced to pay a combined fine totalling £13.4million towards children's and grassroots football across Europe.
But with Barcelona, Real Madrid, the club that Perez remains in charge of, and Juventus still involved within the plan, Perez has issued a latest update on the whole situation, insisting that those still involved in the European Super League have "won" and that the Super League cannot be "touched" by UEFA, who were furious when the plans were originally unveiled.
"We are calm, because of what we have, we have won," Super League president Perez told El Transistor. "The English teams were coerced.
"They signed something they shouldn't have signed, because they are committed to the Super League. They wanted to punish them, and the courts have said no.
"There is a binding contract and no one can leave. The Super League continues. We went to the judge who made a ruling and said the Super League cannot be touched.
"UEFA cannot do anything to the people or the clubs. It's stopped. Now the court in Luxembourg must decide."
Despite the European Super League have been blasted by pretty much everyone not involved in the plan, Perez remains fully supportive of the idea, insisting it remains a plan to stop football from "dying."
"We have been working on this for two years," Perez added. "It's a format to prevent football, which is losing interest, from dying.
"We are not excluding anyone, but everyone can't be there. Roma-Sampdoria has less interest than a Manchester [United], Paris Saint-Germain. The fans are in charge here."
Despite Perez admitting that the Super League "continues" and that "nothing has failed," UEFA do remain intent on punishing the three clubs still involved, despite disciplinary proceedings having been placed on hold.
A judge in Madrid recently issued a preliminary injunction based on EU competition law, which has since been passed onto the European Court of Justice.
Despite the trouble caused by the Super League plan, UEFA have still granted Barcelona, Real Madrid and Juventus permission to play in the 2021/22 Champions League, even though they initially said they would be banned from all UEFA competitions if they refused to withdraw their involvement.
