Juventus president Andrea Agnelli has admitted the European Super League can no longer go ahead without the six Premier League teams.
Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur all withdrew from the breakaway competition on Tuesday evening, just 48 hours after their plans were announced, leaving six clubs – three from Spain and three from Italy.
And Agnelli has now conceded that without the six English sides, the competition can no longer survive.
When questioned over the ESL continuing without the English teams, Agnelli told Reuters: “To be frank and honest no, evidently that is not the case.
“I wouldn’t be talking too much about where that project has gone. I remain convinced of the beauty of that project, of the value it would have developed to the pyramid, of the creation of the best competition in the world.
“But admittedly no, I don’t think that project is now still up and running.”
The statement marks a quick U-turn from one of the men at the heart of the controversial plot to break from Uefa competition.
In in an interview with an Italian daily published on Wednesday, and carried out late on Tuesday, Agnelli had said the tournament had a “100 per cent” chance of success.
“There is a blood pact among our clubs, we will press ahead,” Agnelli told newspaper la Repubblica when asked whether the Super League was sinking after some clubs had decided to leave two days after the breakaway plan was launched.
Serie A champions Juventus are one of the 12 teams who proposed forming the breakaway competition. Agnelli is a key figure in the move and has been named ESL vice-chairman.
The Super League was not a “menace” to national competitions, said Agnelli on Tuesday, and the clubs involved in the breakaway European competition had “full willingness” to continue taking part in them.
European football’s governing body Uefa has threatened to ban the clubs forming the Super League from domestic and international competition, but Agnelli had said that this would not happen.
The Juventus executive said the Super League had written letters to both Uefa and Fifa, hoping to open negotiations with them.
But now the entire edifice is on its knees after pressure from every possible angle forced the English clubs to withdraw and left only three Italian and three Spanish clubs left.
