The Premier League is set to change its rules to ensure that Liverpool and no other member club will ever be able to join a breakaway European league again without facing instant expulsion, according to a report.
Liverpool, along with Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur, announced on Sunday that they had signed up for a European Super League, which proposed to be a private members club rather than a competition where qualification was achieved through merit.
At first the respective owners had appeared determined to push on with their controversial plans but a tidal wave of public opinion against the project saw the English-based half dozen all withdraw within the space of 48 hours.
An article in the Times says a governance review already being carried out by the Premier League’s chief executive Richard Masters, in conjunction with the FA, will now focus specifically on ending any such future threat as part of the changes.
A source with knowledge of the developments, said: “This will kill off the threat of English clubs joining a European Super League for ever.”
The piece states that under the Premier League’s existing rule L9 there is a list of other competitions that member clubs are permitted to play in, but the new rule will end any possible ambiguities around new competitions outside the existing football structures.
The new rule is expected to set out in black and white that joining any breakaway league will lead to immediate expulsion.
Meanwhile, some Premier League clubs are still pushing for the six rebel clubs to face sanctions for joining the Super League on Sunday, only to pull out 48 hours later after a storm of criticism from their own fans, as well as threatened action from the government and the football authorities.
One club insider said rule L9 was “clearly broken” as any Premier League member club needs prior written approval by the board to enter a new competition, and therefore the rebel clubs should face sanctions.
There is another view, however, that the so-called ‘big six’ have been so devastated by the events of the last week — losing the goodwill of their fans, no longer being part of the European Club Association, losing key committee positions on the Premier league — that the biggest punishment of all will be no longer being able to use the threat of a Super League.
The source said: “The big six have used that as their final bargaining chip for years — now it’s worthless.”
