European Super League: Is this the EXACT night the idea was born?

The ‘greedy’ mainly-foreign billionaire owners of England’s top clubs behind the maligned new European Super League may have started talks three-and-a-half years ago at a New York lunch with Manchester United’s former JP Morgan banker boss at its centre, MailOnline can reveal today.

Liverpool owner John Henry and Arsenal chief Ivan Gazidis met with Manchester United executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward and club-owning Glazer brothers Avram and Joel for discussions in one of New York’s most popular restaurants, Locanda Verde, in the trendy Tribeca district in October 2017.

These are the men who have sat in silence while the football world reacts in horror at their plans to upend the competitive spirit of the sport once and for all bankrolled by £4.3billion in loans from Mr Woodward’s former employer JP Morgan.

At the time, Sportsmail reported how television rights could well have been on the agenda of their meeting because the three sides had been agitating for a greater slice of the pie. But now experts believe the project that has sparked a ‘nuclear war’ in world football may have been on the menu.

Instead of splitting the income equally between 20 Premier League teams, Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester United wanted a model similar to Spain, where Atletico Madrid, Barcelona and Real Madrid – coincidentally also founder members of the Super League get more of the cash. All six are part of the ‘dirty dozen’ of clubs now signed up. 

The extraordinary meeting re-emerged as Uefa’s boss has slammed the billionaire ‘snakes’ and ‘liars’ behind the European Super League as it was revealed Boris Johnson will meet the FA, Premier League, the PFA and fans today and vowed to give the £4.3billion breakaway competition ‘the red card’ even though rebel clubs are signed up until 2046.

The Prime Minister described the new midweek competition, which includes six leading English clubs among the founders receiving up to £300million each when it starts, as ‘ludicrous’ while there is a clamour from 

Mr Johnson will hold an emergency meeting with officials and lawyers amid mounting and extreme fury over the plans, with Prince William, President of the FA, warning the proposals could ‘damage the game we love’.

As outraged fans of the breakaway teams threatened to overthrow the mainly-foreign billionaire owners of their clubs, and rival supporters set fire to their kits outside football grounds, the Prime Minister weighed in having vowed to ‘do everything’ to stop it. 

Banners were put up outside the stadiums of the Big 6, accusing them of ‘killing football’ and saying the beautiful game had been ‘created by the poor and stolen by the rich’. The clubs involved are said to have signed 23-year contracts tying them in until at least 2046. 

UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin turned on club leaders he called ‘snakes’ and ‘liars,’ singling out Juventus chairman Andrea Agnelli and Manchester United vice chairman Ed Woodward for betraying him by reneging on a pledge to stick with the Champions League. 

Mr Ceferin, who is godfather of Mr Agnelli’s daughter, said: ‘They don’t know s*** about solidarity. They spit in the face of football lovers. We didn’t know we had snakes working close to us, but now we know’. 

The row that threatens the most seismic change to English football in decades, came as:

• Premier Leagues have excluded the ‘Big 6’ from an emergency meeting today amid rumours they may threaten to ban or deduct points from the ringleaders;
• Clubs have signed 23-year contracts with up to £300m handed to them as a signing on fee. Founders categorically deny it is a negotiating tactic but football experts predict the plans could soon fall apart; 
• Britain’s competitions watchdog is ‘carefully’ looking at the Super League plans to see if it is illegal while Boris Johnson will meet officials from across football today;
• UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin says clubs and players involved in the proposed breakaway Super League could be banned ‘as soon as possible’ from all of its competitions and the Fifa World Cup. Decision on throwing Chelsea and Man City out of Champions League semi-finals will happen this week;
• Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus are spearheading the Super League plan. Source tells BBC that English clubs will focus on ‘fans of the future’ abroad rather than ‘legacy fans’ in the UK in yet another slap in the face for supporters; 
• Champions League broadcaster BT rules itself out of buying TV rights while pundits on Sky Sports, home of the Premier League, vocal in their criticism as Amazon, Netflix and Disney+-owned Star mooted as possible buyers; 

Fast forward nearly four years and the football fans in Britain and beyond have reacted in uniform horror at the Super League proposals – the fear of what will happen to the game transcending any rivalry on the pitch. 

These owners, however, have come together and Joel Glazer was quoted by rival clubs explaining how the Super League was moving forward. Messrs Henry, Glazer and Woodward don’t have too many other friends to turn to but they clearly have each other.

Gazidis, meanwhile, has since departed Arsenal and is now an executive at AC Milan in Italy, who are also a Super League founder member.  

Uefa’s executive committee member Jesper Moller said last night that they are looking at whether Real Madrid, Manchester City and Chelsea could be banned from this season’s Champions League semi-finals by the end of the week.

Ex-England captain and now owner of Major League Soccer franchise, David Beckham, has warned that fans will be the ones to suffer if plans go ahead.

‘I’m someone who loves football. It has been my life for as long as I can remember. I loved it from when I was a young child as a fan, and I’m still a fan now. As a player and now as an owner I know that our sport is nothing without the fans. We need football to be for everyone. We need football to be fair and we need competitions based on merit. Unless we protect these values the game we love is in danger…’ he wrote on Instagram. 

Alan Shearer has predicted that some of the clubs involved in the breakaway Super League would be considering their positions as a result of the condemnation which has followed Sunday night’s announcement – but said they must be banned from competition if they don’t back down.

He said:  ‘They have thrown a Hand Grenade. Let’s throw one back and ban them. When you look at the reaction over the last 36 hours, common sense would tell you that these clubs will have to go away and think, ‘Have we really done the right thing here?’.’  He added: ‘Where are these owners? Why don’t they come out and face the media and tell us why they’ve done it, why they want a closed shop that no-one else can get into?’. 

Insiders say fissures are said to be beginning to show with two of the six English clubs said to be wavering. Gary Neville predicted that Manchester City could be the closest to ‘cracking’, but that his former club Manchester United will hold on because their American billionaire owner Joel Glazer is one of the architects. He labelled the Glazer family ‘scavengers’ – and said they should be ‘booted out’ from the club.

There was also open opposition from Liverpool’s managers and players about the plans after the club drew 1-1 with Leeds United last night. Leeds added fuel to the fire by wearing T-shirts emblazoned with ‘For the Fans’ before kick off. Supporters also blocked the team coach as it arrived in West Yorkshire.

Manager Jurgen Klopp and his captain on the night James Milner both came out against the Super League. 

But reigning Premier League champions Liverpool appear to be ignoring both any criticism aimed at them and any mention of their role in the highly controversial European Super League. 

According to The Athletic, Klopp is ‘furious’ at the situation Fenway Sports Group have put him in and the lack of communication between the boardroom and manager’s office before the proposals were made public. 

The timing of the announcement has also angered the German, with Monday night’s game at Leeds a crucial fixture in Liverpool’s bid to finish in a Champions League spot. 

Yet there is no mention of Klopp’s comments on the subject on the club’s official website. 

There was also open opposition from Liverpool’s managers and players about the plans after the club drew 1-1 with Leeds United last night. Leeds added fuel to the fire by wearing T-shirts emblazoned with ‘For the Fans’ before kick off.

James Milner, who was captain last night, told Sky Sports: ‘I can only say my personal opinion, I don’t like it and hopefully it doesn’t happen. I can only imagine what has been said about it and I probably agree with most of it. 

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp had earlier said his own negative opinion of a European Super League had not changed.

Klopp, speaking to Sky Sports ahead of his side’s game at Elland Road, stuck by his words from 2019 when he said he ‘hoped this Super League will never happen’. 

‘It didn’t change. My opinion didn’t change,’ the German said. ‘It is a tough one, people are not happy with that. I can understand that. I have no issues with the Champions League, I like the competitive factor of football. I like the fact that West Ham might play in the Champions League next year. I don’t want them to because we want to do that, but I like that they have the chance.’ 

Liverpool’s city neighbours Everton, which has won more league titles than Man City, Chelsea and Spurs, has called out ‘preposterous arrogance’ of the clubs trying to form the Super League.

Their board of the club said in a statement: ‘The self-proclaimed Super Six appear intent on disenfranchising supporters across the game – including their own – by putting the very structure that underpins the game we love under threat.

‘The backlash is understandable and deserved – and has to be listened to. This preposterous arrogance is not wanted anywhere in football outside of the clubs that have drafted this plan’.

Meanwhile, Manchester United’s superstar midfielder Bruno Fernandes last night became the first player from the breakaway clubs to publicly rally against the proposals, by sharing a social media post saying ‘Dreams can’t be bought’.

Other players at the club are said to have made their feelings known to executive vice chairman Ed Woodward as he delivered an emergency Zoom briefing at the club’s Carrington training ground yesterday.  

It comes as a ‘nuclear war’ broke out in football over the proposals, which would see the six clubs become part of a group of a dozen elite European teams to compete in a tournament rivalling the current Champions League.

The founding members of the proposed European Super League would be guaranteed a spot without qualification – a move which would all but end hopes of any club outside England’s top six playing in Europe’s most elite competition.

Arsenal fans were yesterday seen hanging signs calling for their owner to quit the club following the announcement, while Leeds United fans were seen burning a Liverpool shirt outside Elland Road – where the two sides played in the Premier League last night.

Earlier Prince William, who is the current president of the FA, spoke out against the European Super League project, saying it risked ‘damaging the game we love’.

In a statement released through the Kensington Palace Twitter account, the Duke of Cambridge, who is due to speak to FA chiefs about the issue later this week, said: ‘Now, more than ever, we must protect the entire football community – from the top level to the grassroots – and the values of competition and fairness at its core.

‘I share the concerns of fans about the proposed Super League and the damage it risks causing to the game we love.’  

Players too made their feelings clear, with Leeds United stars wearing t-shirts emblazoned with the logo ‘football is for the fans’ before their Premier League clash with Liverpool.

In a candid interview after the 1-1 draw, Liverpool midfielder James Milner broke ranks with his club’s plan to join the European Super League by saying: ‘I don’t like it and I hope it doesn’t happen.’

The club’s Premier League and Champions League winning manager Jurgen Klopp also hinted he was against the proposals, telling Sky Sports before the game: ‘People are not happy with it, I can understand it.

‘I like the competitive aspect of football. I like that West Ham might play in the Champions League. I don’t want them to, because we want to, but I like they have the chance.’ 

Last night the row heated-up even further amid reports that football chiefs were looking into the possibility of banning players from rebel clubs from playing for their national teams in tournaments such as the European Championships and the World Cup.

And reports suggested bosses at Uefa were considering punishing rebel clubs Chelsea, Real Madrid and Manchester City by throwing them out of this season’s Champions League – despite them making up three of the four semi-finalists.

However the breakaway clubs last night appeared to be standing firm, with reports suggesting they have already signed 23-year deals to compete in the new European Super League tournament, starting from the 2023-24 season. 

Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden tweeted: ‘Season after season, year after year, football fans demonstrate unwavering loyalty and passion by sticking by their clubs.

‘But their loyalty is being abused by a small number of individuals who wield an incredible amount of power and influence. These owners should remember that they are only temporary custodians of their clubs; they forget fans at their peril.

‘They have decided to put money before fans – so I have been left with no choice but to formally trigger the launch of our fan-led review of football. The review will be chaired by (Tracey Crouch), and will be a root-and-branch examination of football in this country.

‘It will cover the financial sustainability of the men’s and women’s game; governance and regulation; and the merits of an independent regulator.

‘We are the people’s Government. We are unequivocally on the side of fans – and their voices have to be heard when it comes to the future of our national game.’

As the row raged on, United star Bruno Fernandes, 26, yesterday led the criticism from his team’s camp. 

The attacking midfielder shared an Instagram post by his Portuguese teammate Daniel Podence, who plays for Wolves, celebrating a goal for Olympiacos in the Champions League – a competition that would essentially be killed off by the new tournament. 

Podence also wrote an ode to Europe’s top club competition, referring to Manchester United and Liverpool’s recent historic wins and other great moments, with the caption: ‘There are some things we just can’t really pay for’. 

And in an act of defiance that may upset the American billionaire owners of Man United, the Glazers, who are among the architects of the new league, Bruno shared the post with clapping emojis and the phrase: ‘Dreams can’t be bought’. 

The same post was also shared by Manchester City’s full back João Cancelo, who is also Portuguese, in a sign that there is also some anger among players at Pep Guardiola’s club, who are also signed up, as it was revealed that Uefa is working out how it can ban all players at the 12 clubs signed up from this summer’s European Championships and its president Aleksander Ceferin called the owners and their staff lying ‘snakes’. 

Speaking after an emergency meeting, Mr Ceferin said: ‘Uefa and the footballing world stand united against the disgraceful self-serving proposal we have seen in the last 24 hours from a select few clubs in Europe that are fuelled purely by greed.

‘The players who will play in the teams that might be playing in the closed league will be banned from playing the World Cup, and so they will not be able to represent the national teams at any matches. 

‘Our sport has become greatest based on sporting merit and we cannot allow that to change, we will not ever.’

In another twist in the jaw-dropping saga, the Government last night also threatened to step in – with ministers vowing to do ‘whatever it takes to protect the national game’. 

Writing in the Sun, Boris Johnson said: ‘A year of empty stadiums has reminded us all that football without fans is an altogether more anaemic spectacle.

‘It is your game – and you can rest assured that I’m going to do everything I can to give this ludicrous plan a straight red.’

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has been urged to investigate whether the breakaway European Super League would breach laws to uphold fairness.

Labour’s shadow minister for sport Alison McGovern blasted the proposal as ‘nothing short of an attempt to stitch up competition’ for a few elite clubs.

She has written a letter to the CMA asking whether it will investigate the widely-criticised plans, commission a study to identify how the league would impact upon competition in the market and to advise Parliament on drafting legislation to make the sport more accountable to supporters.

The party has also urged football fans to sign a petition pressuring the regulator into action over the move backed by the ‘Big Six’ of English Premier League clubs.

The Competition and Markets Authority has said it will be ‘carefully considering’ the proposals to create a breakaway European Super League.

A CMA spokesperson said: ‘The proposals for a European football super league have attracted high levels of public interest.

‘It is a complex area and we will be carefully considering any competition aspects of these proposals.’ 

New European Super League president Florentino Perez insists the controversial breakaway league is necessary to save clubs in financial terms and is determined it will go ahead – whether Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich continue to refuse to join or not.

The Real Madrid president was announced on Sunday in a similar role to his current post as the first chief of the new league, which involves Premier League ‘Big Six’ Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal and Tottenham replacing their European commitments with UEFA, such as the Champions League.

Perez’s Madrid were joined by LaLiga rivals Barcelona and Atletico Madrid while Juventus, AC Milan and Inter Milan have also signed up, but German giants Bayern Munich and French counterparts PSG have insisted they will not be following suit.

But speaking on El Chiringuito in Spain, the 74-year-old claimed the Super League was a necessary measure for all clubs including his own to combat the loss of income brought about by the coronavirus pandemic.

And he insisted that it was ‘bulls***’ that it could be cancelled if other big sides refuse to eventually join, claiming football would be ‘dead’ in three years’ time under current competitions and models.

‘Many important clubs in Spain, Italy and the UK want to find a solution to a very bad financial situation,’ Perez said.

‘The only way is to play more competitive games. If instead of playing the Champions League, the Super League helps the clubs to recover the lost earnings.

Here at Real Madrid we’ve lost a lot of money, we are all going through a very bad situation. When there is no profit, the only way is to play more competitive games during the week. The Super League will save clubs financially.

‘PSG were not invited, as of today. We haven’t even spoken to German clubs. We are now 12 clubs, we want to become 15 clubs. If PSG and Bayern Munich refuse, the Super League competition will not be cancelled. This is bulls***.

‘Football must evolve like everything in life. Football has to adapt to the times we live in now. Football is losing interest from fans, TV rights are decreasing. We wanted to do the Super League, the pandemic has given us urgency, and right now we are all ruined in football.

‘Even in the Premier League, if the top clubs are economically stronger, all the other clubs will also become stronger. It is a consequence. We want a dialogue with UEFA as we proposed in the Super League, we want to save football.

‘This Super League is not for the rich, but it’s to save football. If this continues, football will disappear and by 2024 we would already be dead. This is the only way to save everyone: big, medium and small clubs.’

Crossbench peer Lord Jim O’Neill has said that clubs joining the proposed Super League should probably be kicked out of the current European competitions.

He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Tuesday that the Government should also think about introducing legislation for fan-based ownership of clubs.

When asked if he thought just the Government needed to take action, he said: ‘I’m talking about Uefa too – there were rumours late last night that Uefa is going to meet again and give them (the clubs) a deadline til Friday to change their view, otherwise kick the remaining teams out of this year’s Champions League and Uefa Cup, which includes my Manchester United, and they probably should.

‘And the Government should threaten all sorts of really powerful things, including something that relates to what I’ve been so enthusiastic about from a Manchester United-perspective for the past decade and that is to think about something like a German-style legislative move to fan-based ownership. Enough of this ridiculous nonsense of people who don’t really care about football.’

The Government had earlier announced the launch of a top-to-bottom review of football in the UK. 

Ministers say the investigation, to be headed up by former Sports Minister Tracey Crouch, will be a ‘root and branch’ reform of the governance and finances of football.

This includes the possibility of an independent regulator for football – a move long called for by United legend Gary Neville – and a move to a German model where fans groups are the majority share holders.

The announcement of the review came as Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said the Government will be offering its ‘full support’ to the Premier League, Football Association and Uefa.

‘Be in no doubt if they can’t act, we will. We will put everything on the table to prevent this from happening, he told the Commons.

And in a pointed threat to the clubs involved, he added: ‘We will do whatever it takes to protect our national game.’ 

One option being urged upon ministers is to impose a ban or further on incoming foreign transfers – a move which could seriously impact on the success of big teams.

There is a feeling among English football’s key stakeholders that Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea and Tottenham shouldn’t be allowed to access foreign talent under new post-Brexit recruitment rules if the controversial new division is started.

But, despite the risk of sanctions, it appears the European Super League project has already green-lit, with teams having reportedly signed the contracts.

According to the Times, a source close to the project said: ‘There are signed agreements — 23-year contracts.

‘This is categorically not a bargaining chip. 

‘I can see why people might come to the conclusion but I am happy to correct it. This is proper, it’s happening.’

Meanwhile, the league has reportedly already signed up former Number 10 Press Secretary Katie Perrior to help with the PR strategy.

Ms Perrior, who worked under Theresa May, is the founder ofiNHouse Communications, which has the contract to conduct PR for the Super League, according to the Times.

The unrest in the Premier League came as expert lawyers told MailOnline that the rebel clubs still have a good chance of winning any blockbuster legal battle as football fans and former players turned on the ‘greedy’ mainly-foreign billionaire club owners. 

Supporters have accused the mainly-foreign owners of ‘treachery’ and threatened to never watch them again after the £4.3billion plan bankrolled by JP Morgan emerged yesterday. 

Manchester United’s chief executive Ed Woodward was an investment banker there before moving into football having helped the Glazers buy the club.

Supporters of Liverpool, owned by American John W Henry, have put up banners outside Anfield including one announcing the death of the club while Tottenham Hotspur Supporters’ Trust (THST) threatened to overthrow owner Joe Lewis and Chairman Daniel Levy. Manchester City’s Official Supporters Club felt the plans demonstrated ‘zero regard for the game’s traditions’. 

One board member at one of the six Premier League clubs involved told Sky Sports News: ‘This is not a civil war, it’s a nuclear war. 

‘There are several board members at the six clubs who are opposed to joining the new league but they feel they do not have the power to stop it’.

He said that for the owners of the clubs, all of whom are based abroad, ‘are not that worried about (bad) PR’ and ‘the wider good of the game is a secondary concern’. 

‘They don’t like giving their playing assets away to countries for very little financial reward’, the source said.

And while the backlash was a plenty from fans, players and ex-players alike, the move was seen in a positive light by stock brokers, with shares in the 12 clubs involved rocketing yesterday.

Shares of Juventus soared by 20 per cent on the Milan stock exchange yesterday following the announcement, and the value of Manchester United shares also jumped 10 per cent on the New York stock exchange. 

And one football finance expert predicted the clubs involved could triple their income from European football by defecting to the new super league format. 

Clubs currently net around £100million in TV revenue and gate receipts from the Champions League.

But football finance expert Kieran Maguire told the Express that he believes the figure could be more like £300million for those in the European Super League – on top of a guaranteed £200million initial ‘welcome bonus’.

He told the paper ‘The clubs believe they can sell the rights directly to the consumer.

‘It would be great news for something like MUTV where the only offerings are the Under-23s matches or news of Paul Pogba’s latest hair cut.’

However, the plans could yet backfire on the breakaway group, as the rebel clubs were threatened with expulsion from the Premier League and European competitions with their stars also potentially banned from playing for their countries. 

The UK Government is also said to be drawing up ‘very robust’ plans to fight back, including the Home Office withdrawing policing support from matches.

They could also lead a legal charge to the High Court amid claims the move could be illegal under UK competition law, but legal experts have told MailOnline that the law is likely to be on the rebels’ side. 

Mark Orth, of MEOlaw based in Munich, believes the rebels will succeed if the row goes to court based on competition law and precedents set in previous cases in European courts.

He said: ‘I am of the opinion they have a strong case. They have a good chance of winning. 

‘There are good prospects for the start of the Super League and the clubs that take part’.  

Speaking in Gloucester yesterday, the PM said football clubs were more than ‘great global brands’, they needed to have a link with their fans and communities, with supporters already threatening to tear up season tickets and protest outside stadiums in huge numbers if the ‘money-grabbing’ owners pursue it. 

There could also be attempts to sanction the owners. The US sports moguls behind Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal: Joel Glazer, John W Henry and Stan Kroenke respectively, are key players in the plans. They have been backed by Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich at Chelsea, Abu Dhabi-backed Manchester City and Spurs, owned by British billionaire Joe Lewis, who lives in the Bahamas. 

Real Madrid president Florentino Perez is the chairman of the new organisation, while Mr Glazer is a vice-chairman with Juventus’ Italian chairman Andrea Agnelli. 

Mr Johnson admitted that clubs involved could be compelled to pay back state-backed coronavirus loans and furlough money.

The most extreme change mooted is to transform the ownership rules for clubs to mirror the German model where investors can only own 49 per cent of a club and fans own the remaining 51 per cent. This ensures supporters always have the deciding vote at meetings. Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund have not signed up to the Super League due to supporter power on their boards.  

The already super-rich club owners behind the proposed European Super League have rushed to court to try to force through their plans financed by £4.3 billion ($6bn) in loans from US banking giant JP Morgan despite English fans and football legends crying ‘betrayal’ and declaring war ‘for the soul of football’. 

Under the plans the founder clubs will immediately share a £3.5billion pool of cash of up to £310million per club – and up to half of the payment can be ploughed into new players and salaries with the rest spent on the stadium and training facilities.

They would also make billions more by striking a fresh global TV deal with sources close to the founders telling the BBC that they will focus on ‘fans of the future’ abroad rather than ‘legacy fans’ in the UK. As well as the TV cash, the advertising money would be shared amongst the 20 clubs proposed to take part, rather than the 79 clubs who take part in the Champions League each year.      

Meanwhile, players at the club are said to hit back at the proposals during an emergency meeting with Ed Woodward yesterday. 

Woodward, who recently moved to London from Manchester, is said to have told the squad they were acting in the club’s best interests.

‘Some of the players were seriously unimpressed,’ a source explained. ‘Not only that they were left to find out by the media about what had happened but that their manager was left to face the press when the owners had concocted this. 

‘Woodward attempted to appease them but the response was lukewarm at best. It hasn’t gone down well with many of them.’ 

‘If this European super league advances, those dreams are over, the illusions of the fans of the teams that are not giants of being able to win on the field competing in the best competitions will end.

‘I love football and I cannot remain silent about this, I believe in an improved Champions League, but not in the rich stealing what the people created, which is nothing other than the most beautiful sport on the planet.’ 

The Premier League held an emergency board meeting after the plan emerged on Sunday and has written to all its 20 clubs. The letter from chief executive Richard Masters demanded the rebels ‘walk away immediately before irreparable damage is done’. The Times says Masters told the six rebel clubs that continuing with this breakaway, would be a direct breach of Premier League rules. Sanctions could include expulsion or points deduction.   

In a letter to FIFA president Gianni Infantino and UEFA’s Aleksander Ceferin seen by the PA news agency, the European Super League Company calls for cooperation but also reveals it has already taken legal action to try to head off the threat of clubs and players being banned from other competitions.

The letter reads: ‘We are concerned that FIFA and UEFA may respond to this invitation letter by seeking to take punitive measures to exclude any participating club or player from their respective competitions.

‘We hope that is not your response to this letter and that, like us, your organisations will recognise the immediate benefits of the competition established by SLCo.

‘We also seek your cooperation and support on how the competition can be brought within the football ecosystem and work with us to achieve that objective.

‘Your formal statement does, however, compel us to take protective steps to secure ourselves against such an adverse reaction, which would not only jeopardise the funding commitment under the grant but, significantly, would be unlawful.

‘For this reason, SLCo has filed a motion before the relevant courts in order to ensure the seamless establishment and operation of the competition in accordance with applicable laws.’

The ‘greedy billionaires’ trying to tear the heart out of the beautiful game: Backers of new European breakaway league include Arsenal owner who married Wal-Mart billionaire, Liverpool’s Mr Moneyball and Manchester United’s Superbowl winner

By Danyal Hussain and Martin Robinson for MailOnline

The billionaire owners of England’s biggest football clubs have joined up with some of their European counterparts to create a new Super League that has sent shockwaves through the sport. 

The US sports moguls behind Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal: Joel Glazer, John W Henry and Stan Kroenke respectively, are key players in the plans. They have been backed by Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich at Chelsea, Abu Dhabi-backed Manchester City and Spurs, owned by British billionaire Joe Lewis, who lives in the Bahamas.

The European Super League plans also involve Spanish sides Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid and Barcelona and Italian clubs AC Milan, Juventus and Inter Milan. 

American investment bank JP Morgan, which included Jeffrey Epstein and Bernie Madoff as its clients, will give the clubs £4.3 billion in loans to get the competition started. 

Sponsors and investors are thought to have already been lined up by the bank to bring money into the league. 

Money seems to be the key driver of the new competition, with the club owners hailing from a range of ultra-wealthy backgrounds.  

John W Henry, owner of Liverpool 

John W Henry, the 71-year-old owner of Liverpool, has an estimated wealth of $2.7bn. Alongside Liverpool, the American financier and investor also owns baseball side Boston Red Sox and the Boston Globe newspaper.

His company, John W. Henry & Company, an investment management firm which he founded, also has stakes in Roush Fenway Racing (NASCAR) and Minor League baseball team the Salem Red Sox.

Born to bean farmer parents in Quincy, Illinois, Henry started his venture into the world of finance by selling soybean assets known as ‘futures’. He has been married twice – to first wife Peggy Sue between 1993 and 2008. 

The tycoon’s second wife is Linda Pizzuti, who is 30 years younger than him. His courtship of her was leaked by publications in Boston in 2009, the year they got married.

Henry is a father of three, and has two daughters with his first wife, as well as a son with Pizzuti.

While learning his trade he tested a new type of trading technique which proved a success.

He is now worth an estimated $3billion. Henry made his money from hedge funds and his trading company before buying the Red Sox with his partner Tom Werner – the Liverpool chairman.

Under their control in 2004 the Red Sox won a first World Series in 86 years. They also ended Liverpool’s 30-year wait for a championship when they lifted the Premier League last season.

As of February 2021, Forbes estimated his net worth to be $2.8billion. 

In 2016, he splashed out an eye-watering £68million on a new 215-foot super-yacht which can reportedly accommodate 12 overnight guest in a master suite, three double cabins and two twins, and up to 17 crew in separate quarters.

Among the yacht’s most noteworthy features are an ornate fireplace in the main saloon, an infinity pool located aft of the main deck, an elevator, a spa center, a gym and a helipad located on the bow. 

Henry put his Florida mansion up for sale in 2018 for $25million before knocking off $10million a year later. 

Dubbed the ‘House of Peace’, he bought the six-acre plot in 1991 for $850,000 (£646,000) so stands to make an astonishing profit despite his price-cut. It is unclear if the mansion has been sold since.

The property, based in the Le Lac neighbourhood in Boca Raton and has seven bedrooms and 14.5 bathrooms across 27,832 square feet.

On the main level, there’s a foyer with a sweeping staircase and a two-story living room. Elsewhere, there is a home cinema, a sports bar, a library with cherry wood walls, a gym, a loft with card tables, an underground wine cellar and a recording studio.

There is also a swimming pool with cabana seating, an outdoor kitchen with a pizza oven, a clay tennis court and a pair of motor courts.

Henry was briefly portrayed in the 2011 film Moneyball, which follows Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane and his quest to build a winning team in 2002.

Beane turns down an offer from Henry to become the new GM of the Red Sox but the team goes on to win the 2004 World Series by implementing many of his ideas.  

In one email sent to her after watching a Boston Celtics NBA match, he wrote: ‘A brief encounter-and-a-half with you gave a cool spin to this little blue planet from my vantage point.

‘I barely know you. I don’t have any illusions about capturing your heart. It’s the small things that ultimately matter. The subtle things. I am honest. I don’t play games.

‘And I see no reason not to say that I’ve been smitten by you and you’ve done me a great service. You’ve very innocently made my world brighter, better, lighter and warmer.’ 

Pizzuti, the daughter of two Italian migrants, has a Masters degree in real estate development from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she graduated from at the age of 26.

She served as the managing director of the Boston Globe for seven years before being appointed chief executive officer of Boston Globe Media Partners last year.  

Henry has been married three times, firstly to Mai Henry, though little is known about their relationship.

He was married to his second wife Peggy Sue Henry for 15 years, between 1993 and 2008. The pair have two daughters together.  Henry and his current wife Puzzti have one son together. 

Stan Kroenke, owner of Arsenal 

Arsenal’s Stan Kroenke has been involved with the Gunners since 2007 and took complete control three years ago.

The billionaire, 73, also owns NFL team LA Rams, NBA’s Denver Nuggets, NHL’s Colorado Avalanche and the Colorado Rapids from the MLS.

He also has the Colorado Mammoth team in the National Lacrosse League and, since 2017 has been involved in esports, owning teams in leagues for the video games Overwatch and Call of Duty. 

From comparatively humble beginnings, his father was the owner of Mora Lumber Company in Mora, Missouri. Stan is said to have worked sweeping floors for his father from a young age, before helping with the bookkeeping aged 10.

However, it was his marriage which propelled him to riches. Ann Walton, who he married in 1974, is the daughter of Walmart co-founder James Bud Walton and was heir to his vast fortune. 

The couple have four children, including son Josh, 40, who is president of the Denver Nuggets basketball team. Daughter Whitney, 43, is a film producer and philanthropist. Kroenke has another son, named Brett, as well as a daughter named Katie. 

He founded the Kroenke Group in 1983, a real estate development firm that specialised in building shopping centres – many near Walmart stores.

When his father-in-law Bud Walton died in 1995, Kroenke inherited a stake in Walmart Stores Inc, which was worth $4.8billion as of September 2015. Kroenke is thought to be worth £7billion.

The couple have at least two children together, Josh and Whitney Ann. His son Josh is president and governor of the Denver Nuggets basketball franchise, President and Governor of the Colorado Avalanche ice hockey franchise, and Alternate Governor for the Colorado Rapids soccer franchise. The company also co-owns Elitch Gardens Theme Park.  

In 2013, he was appointed by his father to the board of Arsenal as a non-executive director.  Daughter Whitney is a film producer, and philanthropist. 

Kronke’s career in sports team management has not been without controversy. He got around NFL rules preventing the ownership of other sports teams by having the Avalanche and Nuggets in his wife’s name – much to the anger of his rival owners.  

News of the Super League enraged fans of Arsenal – but it is not the first time Kroenke has drawn the anger of the supporters of his teams. 

In 2015, he moved his Rams American Football team from St Louis, where it had been based since 1994, to California. The relocation drew anger from fans and even led to a lawsuit against the team and Kroenke from the city of St Louis.

His relationship with Arsenal fans has also been a stormy one, with supporters of the North London club accusing him of ignoring the club by not investing money into it. Frequent protests have been carried out against him and fans have accused him of lacking ambition for a team once considered the best in the country. 

Despite his involvement in sports watched by millions Kroenke prefers to avoid the spotlight and has the nickname ‘Silent Stan.’  

Away from sport, Kroenke is a major landowner, with nearly 1.4 million acres of ranches across the U.S. and Canada.

Kroenke also owns around 30 million square feet of real estate, with much of it in the form of shopping plazas near Walmart stores.  

In 2016, he bought a ranch of 520,000 acres in Texas, worth £520 million, which helped make him one of the top ten landowners in the US. 

In 2017, he was slammed for launching an outdoor sports TV channel in the UK, which scheduled regular bloodsports and hunting programs, including the killing of elephants, lions, and other endangered African species.  

Joel Glazer and the Glazer family, owners of Manchester United 

Florida-based Joel Glazer, 50, is part of the family who have controlled Manchester United since 2005, when it was bought by the now late businessman Martin Glazer.

The family also own the NFL team the Tampa Bay Buccaneers – the recent Super Bowl Champions.

United have not won the Premier League since 2013 but during Glazer’s tenure have lifted 12 major prizes and, according to Deloitte, in 2021 are the world’s fourth richest club behind Barcelona, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich with revenue of $580m.

The Glazers’ money comes from their sporting empires and real estate across the US. They bought the Buccaneers for $192m in 1995 and it is now worth $3.1billion. Joel is married to Angela, and the couple are parents to a son and daughter named Dylan and Zoey. 

The team, led by legendary quarterback Tom Brady, beat the New England Patriots in the most recent Super Bowl.

Likewise they took charge of United, according to Forbes, for $1.4bn with the club reported to be worth more than $3bn.

The family owns First Allied Corporation, an American real-estate holding company that owns and rents out shopping malls across the United States. The company owns over 6.7 million square feet of shopping center space across 20 states, including California, Colorado, Texas, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, Illinois, Ohio, New York and New Jersey.

After Malcolm Glazer died in May 2014, his vast $4billion fortune was shared among his children, including Joel – who is now the executive co-chairman and director. 

Joel studied Interdisciplinary Studies at the American University in Washington D.C before taking the reigns of his father’s company. He has a wife, Angela Glazer, as well as two daughters, Dylan and Zoey Glazer. 

Siblings Bryan, Kevin, Darcie and Edward are all on the board of directors. Earlier this year it was reported that Avram Glazer had put his shares worth more than £70million up for sale and he is no longer listed as a board member. 

The Glazer family takeover was controversial with supporters who hit out at the debt the club would be forced to take on as part of the deal. 

The majority of the capital used by the Glazers to purchase Manchester United came in the form of loans, the majority of which were secured against the club’s assets, incurring interest payments of over £60 million per annum. 

The remainder came in the form of payment in kind loans, which were later sold to hedge funds. 

Net debt at the club is at over £450 million while the Glazer family have taken hundreds of millions of pounds in dividends over the years. 

Furious fans launched FC United of Manchester in 2005, which entered the North West Counties Football League and played in the sixth tier National League North from 2015 to 2019. 

Since 2005, the Manchester United Supporters’ Trust has been working on a way of returning ownership of the club to supporters.

The Glazers have seen frequent protests against their ownership of the club and in 2010, a group of wealthy Manchester United fans, dubbed the ‘Red Knights’, discussed a billion-pound takeover bid. 

However, the bid fell through when the Red Knights refused to meet the Glazers’ valuation of the club.

At his death in May 2014 at 85, Malcolm Glazer lived in a Palm Beach oceanfront house on the stretch of South Ocean Boulevard known to locals as Billionaires Row. 

With ties to Rochester, New York, the Glazers bought the house in 1989, and Linda Glazer still uses it as her primary residence, property records show. 

Roman Abramovich, Chelsea owner 

Roman Abramovich was seen as the original billionaire football owner when he arrived at Chelsea in 2003 and transformed the team from outside challengers to a Premier League giant. 

Since he took ownership of the club and invested heavily in big-name managers and players, they have won 16 major trophies, including five Premier League titles and the Champions League.

Believed to be worth around $15billion, according to Forbes, Abramovich also owns stakes in steel company Evraz and Norilsk Nickel – a Russian mining company.

A political figure in his homeland, he was governor of the Chukotka region and donated more than $2million to build schools, hospitals and infrastructure.

The 53-year-old Russian-Israeli businessman is known to have close relationships with former Russian leader Boris Yeltsin and current president Vladimir Putin.

In fact, it is believed that Abramovich was the first person to recommend Putin for president. 

According to Forbes, Abramovich’s net worth was $12.9billion in 2019, which makes him the richest person in Israel, 10th-richest in Russia, and the 113th richest in the world. 

His British property empire is worth more than £200million and includes a 15-bedroom mansion in Kensington Palace Gardens that is believed to be now worth £125 million.

The portfolio includes a flat in Cheyne Terrace, Chelsea, which was purchased for £8.75million in 2017 and includes a high-tech temperature-controlled wine cellar. 

It is close to three other properties that overlook the Thames, bought for £25million, that he had once intended to knock together and turn into a £100million super-home.

However Abramovich, who made his money selling assets acquired from the state following the fall of the Soviet Union, scrapped the plan and sold up after he relented to local uproar.

Abramovich became an Israeli citizen in 2018 after his British visa expired and reportedly owns most of the properties through a holding company called Fordstam

And land registry records show that since the expiration of his visa he transferred 11 properties to the business.

The empire also includes a £22million three-storey penthouse, bought in 2018, at the Chelsea Waterfront which was completed after his visa expired and the purchase was made in his name.

Meanwhile the Kensington mansion, which cost a staggering £90million, is part of what is known as ‘billionaire’s row’.

The desirable postcode is also home to steel magnate Lakshmi Mitta and billionaire business magnate Wang Jianlin. 

Abramovich has become the world’s greatest spender on luxury yachts, and maintains a fleet of yachts dubbed ‘Abramovich’s Navy’.

His 162.5m yacht, named ‘Eclipse’, is one of the many stunning gems within his fortune. It can accomodate 36 guests in 18 cabins and boasts a cinema, conference facilities, children’s playroom, beauty salon, dance floor, two swimming pools, sauna and even a missile defence system.

Abramovich has begun building a ‘megamansion’ in New York, having purchased four Upper East Side townhouses in Manhattan for $74 million. The combined property will be 19,400 square feet, and it is estimated that renovation costs will be an additional $100 million.

Russia’s most prominent opposition leader Alexei Navalny, 44, has called for the freezing of the Chelsea football club owner’s assets over his poisoning and arrest. 

Abramovich has been married and divorced three times. In December 1987, following a brief stint in the Soviet Army, he married Olga Yurevna Lysova. They divorced in 1990. 

In October 1991, he married a former Russian Aeroflot stewardess, Irina Malandina. They have five children, Ilya, Arina, Sofia, Arkadiy and Anna. Abramovich married Dasha Zhukova, daughter of a prominent Russian oligarch, Alexander Zhukov in 2008, and they have two children, a son, Aaron Alexander, and a daughter, Leah Lou. 

In August 2017, the couple announced that they would separate and their divorce was finalised in 2018 

Sheik Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, owner of Manchester City 

The money arrived at Manchester City in 2008 and with Sheikh Mansour, a member of the Abu Dhabi royal family, pulling the purse strings, they never looked back.

Cash was quickly pumped into every area – academy, training ground, playing staff, coaching – and City quickly caught up with, and overtook their neighbours and rivals Manchester United.

They have won four Premier Leagues in that time, look set for a fifth this season and are in the semi-final of the Champions League.

The Abu Dhabi group is the majority owner of the City Football Group which boasts Man City as their flagship team. They also have stakes in teams in the United States, Australia, India, Japan, Spain, Uruguay, China, Belgium and France.

Sheikh Mansour, 50, is the deputy prime minister of the United Arab Emirates, minister of presidential affairs and member of the royal family of Abu Dhabi. He is the half brother of the current President of UAE, Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

Mansour also owns stakes in a number of business ventures, including Virgin Galactic and Sky News Arabia. Mansour is the owner of the yacht Topaz, which is worth around £400 million. 

He gave control of Manchester City over to Khaldoon Al Mubarak, 46, one of the royal family’s most trusted advisers. 

Khaldoon’s father was the former UAE diplomat and ambassador to France, Khalifa Ahmed Abdulaziz Al-Mubarak, who was assassinated in Paris in 1984. 

Manchester City has faced widespread condemnation for its Abu Dhabi backing. Though the club has denied being funded by the UAE government directly, Sheikh Mansour retains control of the club. 

A 2017-18 report Amnesty condemned the UAE for unfair trials, lack of freedom of expression, a failure to investigate allegations of torture, discrimination against women and the abuse of migrant workers. 

JOE LEWIS, OWNER OF TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 

Tottenham Hotspur owner Joe Lewis, 84, is worth around £4billion, according to last year’s Times Rich List.

Born in London he entered the family catering business at 15 but in the 1980s moved into currency trading. He is the major investor in Tavistock Group which owns more than 200 companies in 15 countries.

The group formerly owned stakes in Scottish football team Rangers and Slavia Prague in the Czech Republic.

Lewis lives in the Bahamas as a tax exile. Lewis is also the largest shareholder in the British pub group Mitchells & Butlers.

He has a variety of other investments, including luxury club resorts, restaurants, hotels and an Australian agriculture firm.

Lewis also owns the Lake Nona development near Orlando, one of the fastest growing communities in the USA.

The Tottenham owner’s art collection is estimated to be worth $1 billion and includes works by Picasso, Matisse, Lucian Freud, and sculptor Henry Moore.

Lewis bought Francis Bacon’s Triptych 1974–1977 in 2008 for £26.3 million, then a record for postwar artwork bought in Europe.

In November 2018 Lewis sold his ‘Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures)’ by David Hockney in Christie’s salesroom for $90.3 million. 

JP Morgan, US firm bankrolling the super league 

JP Morgan was among the group of big American investment banks blamed for triggering the financial crisis just over a decade ago – and was eventually ordered to pay a then-record $13 billion fine – about £10 billion – in 2013 for misleading investors in the years leading up to the meltdown.

Coincidentally, 2013 was also the year the bank finally parted company with one of its most notorious clients, paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.

Bank insiders have claimed that concerns were raised about Epstein – a friend of Prince Andrew – after the financier was charged with sex crimes and pleaded guilty to soliciting a minor for prostitution in 2008. Yet he remained a JP Morgan client for another five years. 

One theory of why the disgraced American – who died in jail last year – was kept on in the face of increasingly lurid allegations was his value to JP Morgan.

Epstein is said to have arranged business introductions for one of his contacts at the bank, Jes Staley, the head of private banking who would later become chief executive of Barclays bank in Britain.

The Mail on Sunday revealed in 2015 that Epstein lobbied for Staley to secure the top job at Barclays after 34 years at JP Morgan. 

Staley has said he had no knowledge of Epstein’s illegal activities and Barclays has denied its directors were approached by Epstein.

Among JP Morgan’s other notable former clients is Bernie Madoff – the fraudster behind the biggest Ponzi scheme in history.

According to court documents made public in 2011, senior JP Morgan executives had started to doubt the legitimacy of Madoff’s investment activities but continued to do business with him.

JP Morgan eventually paid a $2.5 billion fine for failing for two decades to report Madoff’s suspicious dealings. He was jailed for stealing from wealthy investors – including a number of celebrities – over more than 20 years. Losses from the scheme are said to have hit $17 billion.

JP Morgan admitted it could have done a better job of handling concerns about Madoff’s activities but said no employee knowingly assisted with the fraud.

At the helm of the bank through the good times and the bad has been highly regarded chief executive Jamie Dimon.

Since taking the top job in 2005 he has become known as The King of Wall Street, raking in $298.8 million in pay and perks.

The 63-year-old became the best-paid banking chief for a fifth year in a row by scooping more than £24 million.

He is credited with steering JP Morgan through the financial crisis to become the most profitable bank in the US today.

Nicknamed ‘Mad Dog’ at private school in New York – ostensibly for his prowess on the sports field – he has an MBA from Harvard, where he met his wife, Judy.

They married in 1983 and have three grown-up daughters – Julia, Laura and Kara.

It’s fair to say Dimon hasn’t struggled to find ways to spend the wealth he has accrued since his university days. As well as a home on Park Avenue, one of New York’s most prestigious addresses, he and Judy escape in the summer months to their 34-acre country home about an hour’s drive north from central Manhattan.

The 9,600 sq ft 1930s mansion nestles in woodland near the town of Bedford, where other wealthy homeowners include former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and actor Michael Douglas. Dimon bought the summer retreat in 2007 for a reported $17 million.

His style of management is said to be fierce. It has been claimed he likes to punch the air when he raises his voice to berate staff and carries a crumpled piece of paper containing the names of ‘the people who owe me stuff’.

His tight grip on JP Morgan has not stopped the bank coughing up more than $31 billion in regulatory fines since the 2008 crisis for offences ranging from manipulating energy markets to accusations of racial discrimination.

In January 2017, JP Morgan agreed a $55 million settlement over allegations that it charged black and Hispanic mortgage borrowers higher rates than its white customers.

It denied the accusations, made by the US Justice Department, but agreed to settle.

JP Morgan has also issued a grovelling apology and paid millions of dollars in reparations for historic links to the slave trade.

In 2005, it admitted that two Louisiana banks that were later absorbed into the company once held 13,000 slaves as collateral and owned 1,250 slaves.

JP Morgan’s London office reported a $2billion trading loss in 2012 that was traced to big bets taken by a group of traders led by Bruno Iksil, known as the London Whale. 

Florentino Perez, president of Real Madrid 

Unlike many of their European rivals, reigning LaLiga champions Real Madrid are still fan-owned with around 90,000 fan investors, known as Socios, owning stakes.

Current president Florentino Perez made his fortune in civil engineering and construction and will be the first chairman of the European Super League. 

A former politician, Perez’s background has been the vice-president of Grupo ACS since the company was formed in 1997, and is also the majority owner with 12.8 per cent of the shares in his name.

Perez actually failed in his first attempt to take control of operations in Madrid, failing with a presidential bid in 1995 as he lost to Ramon Mendoza, who would soon depart.

Come 2000, Perez sought to take advantage of Real’s poor financial standing and promised a series of world class signings – including Barcelona’s Luis Figo – during his campaign.

He scooped 94.2 per cent of the vote and then delivered on his promise by acquiring Figo from their greatest rival for a then world record fee. 

Real are worth $3.6 billion according to Forbes, with Perez’s worth standing at $2 billion (£1.53m) 

Andrea Agnelli, chairman of Juventus 

Juventus have been majority-owned, almost continuously, by the Agnelli family since 1923. 

The family own around two thirds of the Turin team, with US fund manager Lindsell Train owning around 11 per cent and the rest owned by other investors in the stock market-listed business.

In February, Juventus said it had suffered a loss of 113.7million euros (£98million) and expected to lose more money in the second half of the season amid coronavirus restrictions.

The club’s share price jumped by more than 14 per cent on Monday morning as investors welcomed news of the Super League.

The Agnelli family are descendants of Italian royalty and own the Fiat conglomerate with several car brands including Ferrari under their control. 

The family has sometimes been described in the English-speaking world as ‘the Kennedys of Italy’ for their role in the country’s contemporary history and their activity of patronage in modern art and in sports.

As of 2020, the extended Agnelli family comprised about two hundred members.

Most members of the family are stakeholders in privately owned Giovanni Agnelli B.V., which in turn has a controlling stake in the publicly listed holding company Exor.

In 2019. Exor recorded revenues of $144 billion, making it the 28th largest group in the world by revenue. 

It has a history of investments running over a century, which notably include global reinsurer PartnerRe and the international newspaper The Economist, as well as their football and motor assets. 

Elliot Management, hedge fund owners of AC Milan 

Elliott Management, a $42billion hedge fund, has complete control of AC Milan after taking over the club in 2018 and has invested more than $600million.

Elliott has said it will invest another $1.2billion to finance a new stadium to replace the San Siro in a build which has placed further pressure on club finances.    

The firm has invested in eBay, AT&T, SoftBank, SAP and Twitter since 2019.

Elliott, founded by billionaire Paul Singer, was famous for buying and selling small companies and its track record gave Singer a reputation among CEOs and board members as the world’s most feared investor.

 Former AthenaHealth CEO Jonathan Bush, whose company was targeted by Elliott in 2017, described doing research on Elliott as ‘googling this thing on your arm and it says, ‘You’re going to die.’ 

The New Yorker called Singer a ‘doomsday investor,’ highlighting a series of unflattering tactics taken by his company.

In 1996, Singer began using the strategy of purchasing sovereign debt from nations in or near default, such as Argentina and Peru through his NML Capital Limited.

He did the same to the Republic of the Congo through Kensington International Inc.

Singer’s practice of purchasing debt from companies and sovereign states and pursuing full payment through the courts has led to criticism.

However, he described his tactic as ‘a fight against charlatans who refuse to play by the market’s rules’, and supporters of the practice have said it ‘help keep kleptocratic governments in check.’

In 2020 Singer ranked 222 on the Forbes 400 list of the richest Americans, 538 among the world’s billionaires, and the 19th highest earning hedge fund manager. 

Suning, the Chinese firm that owns Inter Milan 

City rivals Inter are in a far more uncertain position amid reports that Chinese owner Suning is in talks with private equity investors over a sale of the club.

In February, Suning confirmed that reigning Chinese Super League champions Jiangsu FC, which it also owns, would fold amid financial trouble.

Last month, it was reported that US fund Fortress was in talks over a takeover for Inter but no deal has yet been confirmed.

Confirmation that Inter would be included in any Super League could bump up the valuation of the Serie A club.

Suning is one of the largest non-government retailers in China.

The company has more than 1600 stores covering over 700 cities of China and Japan and its e-commerce platform, Suning.com ranks among top three Chinese B2C companies. 

The company works in categories that include physical merchandise, such as home appliances, 3C products, books, general merchandise, household commodities, cosmetics and baby care products, content products and service merchandise.

It was listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in 2004.

Barcelona, fan owned

Barcelona are another of LaLiga’s four member-owned clubs, having been set up under the model in 1899. Over 144,000 fans pay membership every year and have shareholder votes on major decisions.

Last month, Joan Laporta was elected for a second spell as club president. 

Miguel Angel Gil Marin, majority owner of Athletico Madrid 

Atletico Madrid are majority-owned by Spanish millionaire Miguel Angel Gil Marin, who first became chief executive at the club in 1993 after investment from his father.

Mr Gil Marin, who made his from horse and bull breeding, currently owns a stake of around 52 per cent.

Israeli billionaire Idan Ofer owns around a third of the club after buying out Chinese conglomerate Dalian Wanda Group in 2018. 

 

The JP Morgan connection: Manchester United chief exec Ed Woodward worked for US bank hoping to turn £4.3billion loans into European super league TV rights windfall

Manchester United’s controversial chief executive Ed Woodward has been revealed as one of the main drivers of the new European Super League. 

The club is one of six of England’s biggest who have pledged to join the much derided breakaway league, which has been accused of threatening the soul of the game.

The league is being financed by JP Morgan, which will give the clubs £4.3 billion in loans as start-up.

Woodward, who was appointed chief executive of Manchester United in 2013, previously worked at the US investment bank in the mergers and acquisitions department before helping the Glazer family in its controversial takeover of the club in 2005.

The family were so impressed by him that they recruited him and they, together with Woodward and his old banking firm, are driving the new super league that has been widely condemned by outraged fans, players and politicians.  

UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin branded Woodward a ‘snake’ in an explosive press conference about the new Super League today. 

He added that he ‘didn’t expect snakes in the grass so close to us’ in a remarkable discussion of the plans. 

Ceferin said Woodward had already signed Manchester United up for the Super League when he gave his support to Champions League reforms in a phone call last week.

‘I have seen many things in my life. I was a criminal lawyer. I have never seen people like that,’ said Ceferin. ‘If I start with Ed Woodward, he called me last Thursday evening saying he’s very satisfied with and fully supports the reforms and the only thing he wants to talk about was Financial Fair Play, when obviously he had already signed something else.’ 

Woodward stepped down from UEFA this afternoon after news of the super league emerged. 

It is sure to raise more pressure on a figure who is extremely unpopular with Manchester United fans. 

Woodward rose to his current role after the retirements of Sir Alex Ferguson and David Gill and has overseen a controversial tenure in the years since. 

In November, Woodward told supporters at a fans’ forum: ‘We are at the centre of discussions about European club competitions. What I can assure you of is that we will keep match-going fans firmly in the centre of thoughts.’

However, despite this promise, Woodward failed to mention the new super league in a meeting with fans on Friday, just days before news of the plans broke. 

Woodward has been blamed for the club’s under-performance in recent years, with fans rounding on him as the face of the Glazer family. 

A  group of furious Manchester United supporters launched fireworks and a smoke bomb at the under-fire chief executive’s £2million Cheshire mansion last year. 

A mob of around 20 balaclava-clad supporters – some who are understood to be members of United’s notorious ‘Men In Black’ hooligan firm – launched an attack on Woodward’s luxurious Cheshire mansion near Knutsford, in which he lives with his wife, Isabelle, and two very young twin daughters.

He is the highest-earning director in the league and raked in £3.09million in 2019-20.

Woodward has often won praise for his commercial success with United.

Under his command, the club have endorsed a wide range of products around the world, including soft drinks in Nigeria, nutritional supplements in Japan and mattresses in Asia. 

It has also endorsed watches, hair grooming companies and betting firms in a policy copied by many top-flight clubs. 

However, despite the commercial success, the team has struggled to win on the pitch, having not won the Premier League title since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement in 2013. 

This has led to accusations from fans that Woodward and the Glazers put too much emphasis on the money side of the game, an argument strengthened by United’s ballooning debt under the current ownership. 

Net debt at the club is at over £450 million while the Glazer family have taken hundreds of millions of pounds in dividends over the years. 

The intervening years have strengthened anger at the Glazer takeover after supporters hit out at the debt the club was forced to take on as part of the deal. 

The majority of the capital used by the Glazers to purchase Manchester United came in the form of loans, the majority of which were secured against the club’s assets, incurring interest payments of over £60 million per annum. 

The remainder came in the form of payment in kind loans, which were later sold to hedge funds.   

Furious fans launched F.C. United of Manchester in 2005, which entered the North West Counties Football League and played in the sixth tier National League North from 2015 to 2019. 

Since 2005, the Manchester United Supporters’ Trust has been working on a way of returning ownership of the club to supporters.

The Glazers have seen frequent protests against their ownership of the club and in 2010, a group of wealthy Manchester United fans, dubbed the ‘Red Knights’, discussed a billion-pound takeover bid. 

However, the bid fell through when the Red Knights refused to meet the Glazers’ valuation of the club.

News of the super league, and Woodward’s starring role in the proposals, is sure to anger more Manchester United supporters.  

The Financial Times reported that JP Morgan will charge an interest rate of 2% to 3% on the money it has lent to clubs.

Tim Bridge, a director at Deloitte, which produces an annual report on the finances of football, said the funding deal was ‘one of the biggest ever’ and ‘a pretty seismic shift.’

JPMorgan is America’s biggest bank, with assets of over $3 trillion. 

Its business covers everything from retail banking under its Chase brand to investment banking and corporate lending.

BT Sport savage plans for a European Super League but Sky REFUSE to comment on whether they are in talks to screen it – with Disney, and Facebook all rumoured to be involved in early talks

BT Sport have strongly condemned plans for a European Super League because it will have a ‘damaging effect’ on football – but Sky have refused to comment on the bombshell proposals.

Audacious plans for a new breakaway competition including 20 teams – 15 with a guaranteed place – battling it out midweek would be in direct opposition to existing UEFA tournaments, like the Champions League.

The bombshell proposals have been met with a wave of protest from football authorities, politicians, governments and fans with UEFA president, Aleksander Ceferin, describing them as a ‘spit in the face’ for football and those clubs involved as ‘snakes’.

But while there is a £3.03 billion investment fund secured via JP Morgan, and a team of lawyers in place to pursue the fledgling league’s interests through the courts, no broadcaster has been publicly linked to the controversial scheme.

BT Sport have firmly ruled themselves out, DAZN initially appeared to be a partner but then distanced themselves from the project and Sportsmail understands Amazon is not, and has not been involved.

According to the Financial Times, the Super League’s organisers are seeking £3.4 billion per year in revenue to screen the matches and it has held early talks with Facebook, Disney and Comcast-owned Sky, it’s claimed.

Sky has refused to comment on questions on the subject from Sportsmail and we are awaiting a response from Disney.. 

The figure is based on a sales pitch that offers 200 games-a-year between Europe’s top teams.

In a post on Twitter, BT said: ‘BT recognises the concerns raised by many of football’s leading voices and fans, and believes the formation of a European Super League could have a damaging effect to the long-term health of football in this country.

‘As a sport broadcaster showing Premier League, UEFA club football and National League football as well as being lead partner for all the Home Nations football teams, we strongly believe that football makes a significant positive contribution to people’s lives at every level, and this needs to be protected.’

Yesterday, a report in Italy’s Corriere dello Sport claimed that sports streaming service DAZN, which is owned by billionaire Len Blavatnik’s Access Industries, had been working on the formation of the league.

The Italian paper claimed the streamer was willing to pay $3.5BN for the TV rights to the European Super League, if it goes ahead.

However, in a statement to the website Deadline, DAZN firmly rejected the report: ‘In relation to a report by Corriere dello Sport today, this and related reports are false. Neither DAZN nor Mr. Blavatnik are in any way involved or interested in entering into discussions regarding the establishment of a Super League and no conversations have taken place.’

There is also the possibility that the so-called 15 ‘founder members’ of the Super League would seek to take control over at least some of the media rights themselves, in order to screen their own games.

Industry insiders have speculated this could be one use of the infrastructure investment secured, which will be worth up to £310 million per club.

Negotiations over the management of the Champions League are believed to have have centred on this and other rights issues in recent weeks as Ceferin sought to secure agreement from the European Clubs Association over changes to the competition format.

Ceferin was negotiating with the then European Club Association chairman, Andrea Agnelli. Agnelli, who is also the Juventus chairman, is now the vice president of the Super League.

‘The clubs could get control, it makes sense, as much as any of it makes sense,’ said one industry source.

 

European football is at war after 12 clubs signed up to a breakaway Super League. So is it REALLY going to happen? How will it work? When will it start? Here’s EVERYTHING you need to know on a move that could change the game forever 

So, what exactly is the European Super League? 

Well, let’s start with the simple opening paragraph of the statement that confirmed the news on Sunday night and sent shockwaves through the sport and well beyond.

‘Twelve of Europe’s leading football clubs have today come together to announce they have agreed to establish a new mid-week competition, the Super League, governed by its Founding Clubs.’ 

Those ‘Founding Clubs’ are, as mentioned above, led by the biggest six clubs in English football: Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester City, Chelsea and Tottenham.

Add to that arguably the two biggest clubs in the world, Real Madrid and Barcelona, and a third from Spain – Atletico Madrid. Then there’s Italy’s three giants: Juventus, AC Milan and Inter Milan.

But what about the rest of Europe’s big clubs?

Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain are understood to have rejected the idea, although the plan is to expand the league to 15 founding members, with a further five annual qualifiers – but no relegation for the big founding clubs, even if they finished bottom of the table. 

It is a rapidly changing situation, however, and nothing is certain yet. 

But if other giant Continental clubs want to be involved then they’d better sign up quick, because one thing’s for sure: if your name’s not down you’re not coming in. 

Sounds a bit like a snooty nightclub…

Yes, and the burly bouncer guarding the guest list is Real Madrid president Florentino Perez. The European Super League is his brainchild.

But the new league also represents an American takeover of elite European football, with Manchester United (the Glazer family), Liverpool (Fenway Sports Group, led by John W Henry) and Arsenal (Stan Kroenke) all controlled by US billionaires and venture capitalists.

One source described it as ‘a US-led operation’, adding: ‘This is down mostly to the Americans at Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal who have believed for a long time that they should be making a lot more money.

Then you have Tottenham, who have just built a big new stadium and who would no doubt benefit from infrastructure payments. Chelsea and Man City, who have been reluctant, do not really need the money but there is the obvious fear of missing out.’

What’s the reason for starting a new Super League when all these clubs already play in well-established competitions? 

Quite simply: greed. Or, as our Chief Sports Writer Martin Samuel puts it: ‘A sickening, self-serving attempted justification of what is at heart nothing but an attempted coup.’

Perez has long been jealous of the broadcasting revenue generated by the Premier League, the world’s most-watched competition, and he wants more money than the Spanish League – LaLiga – can offer. 

Major US bank JP Morgan, a former employer of Manchester United executive vice chairman Ed Woodward, are debt financing the new league which will see founding clubs receive £3.03billion, which is set against future broadcast revenue. 

But if the Premier League is so successful, why do the English clubs want in?

Quite simply: greed. Not content with the enormous revenue they already generate, these clubs want to have their cake and eat it: to rake it in from the Premier League while also milking even more money from a midweek European competition.

But there’s already a midweek European competition – the Champions League. What will happen to that?

Stripped of its biggest clubs, club football’s current elite competition would wither and die.  

UEFA, who were due to announce their own proposals for a revamped Champions League on Monday, reacted with fury to the news which had broken earlier on Sunday. 

A statement, issued jointly with the three governing bodies and leagues involved, said: ‘If this were to happen, we will remain united in our efforts to stop this cynical project, a project that is founded on the self-interest of a few clubs at a time when society needs solidarity more than ever. We will consider all measures available to us, at all levels, both judicial and sporting in order to prevent this happening.

‘FIFA and the six Federations announced that the clubs concerned will be banned from playing in any other competition at domestic, European or world level, and their players could be denied the opportunity to represent their national teams.’

Does that mean that these clubs could be banned from playing in the Premier League if this goes ahead? 

Yes. The Premier League – along with all the other big domestic leagues in Europe, plus the game’s governing bodies, FIFA and UEFA – will fight tooth and nail to stop their biggest clubs so shamelessly deserting the rest. 

And there was a warning in UEFA’s statement to players of these clubs too: if you play in the European Super League then you will not be allowed to play in the World Cup or European Championship.

What have the Premier League said?

A letter sent by Premier League chief executive Richard Masters to all 20 member clubs, was also strong and laced with warning to the Big Six. 

‘We do not and cannot support such a concept,’ he wrote. ‘Premier League Rules contain a commitment amongst clubs to remain within the football pyramid and forbid any clubs from entering competitions beyond those listed in Rule L9, without Premier League Board permission. I cannot envisage any scenario where such permission would be granted.’

Do these clubs need permission from the Premier League to play in the European Super League?

Yes. The Premier League was founded in 1992 on the basis that all clubs have an equal vote on the governance of the league, and a right to equal share of the basic broadcasting revenues. The Big Six do not, to say the least, like this one bit. They feel that they are responsible for generating the vast proportion of global interest – and revenues – in the Premier League so deserve a way to generate even more cash. 

Sounds like these big clubs can forget joining a European Super League then? 

They will be lobbying hard to get their way, have no doubt about that. Somehow they are brazenly trying to convince the rest of the Premier League and English football that the European Super League would benefit everyone.

In a rare public comment, United co-chairman Joel Glazer claimed that the closed shop would provide ‘increased financial support for the wider football pyramid’. 

Just like with Project Big Picture – their failed attempt at bribing the Football League with cash to bail them out during the crippling coronavirus pandemic to let the big Six take almost complete control of English football, this new competition is motivated solely by selfishness and greed.

Is that what the experts think too? 

Just listen to Gary Neville, a Manchester United club legend and lifelong fan of the club.

‘It’s been damned, and rightly so,’ said Neville on Sky Sports. ‘I’m a Manchester United fan and I have been for 40 years of my life but I’m absolutely disgusted. I’m disgusted with Manchester United and Liverpool most.

‘Deduct them all points tomorrow, put them at the bottom of the league and take the money off them. Seriously, you have got to stamp on this. It’s criminal. It’s a criminal act against the football fans in this country, make no mistake.

‘There isn’t a football fan in this country that won’t be and shouldn’t be seething listening to this conversation and these announcements.’

Wow, that’s strong stuff. But is Neville alone?

Not at all. Sir Alex Ferguson, the greatest manager in Manchester United and English football history – and still an executive at United – said that a European Super League would be a move away from 70 years of football history and insisted that the Champion League should stay as it is.

‘Talk of a Super League is a move away from 70 years of European club football,’ he told Reuters.

‘Everton are spending £500million to build a new stadium with the ambition to play in Champions League. Fans all over love the competition as it is.

‘In my time at United, we played in four Champions League finals and they were always the most special of nights.’

Pointedly, he added: ‘I am not part of the decision making process.’

Who else has spoken out?

Prime Minister Boris Johnson last night condemned the six English clubs. 

‘Plans for a European Super League would be very damaging for football and we support football authorities in taking action,’ said Mr Johnson on Twitter.

‘They would strike at the heart of the domestic game, and will concern fans across the country.

‘The clubs involved must answer to their fans and the wider footballing community before taking any further steps.’ 

Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said any major decisions about a European league ‘should have the fans’ backing’.

‘With many fans, we are concerned that this plan could create a closed shop at the very top of our national game,’ he said.

‘Sustainability, integrity and fair competition are absolutely paramount and anything that undermines this is deeply troubling and damaging for football.’

And what are the fans saying?

Piers Morgan wrote on Twitter: ‘Shocked & stunned by this new Super League of the ‘biggest & best’ teams in Europe. How the hell have Arsenal managed to blag our way in?’

He later continued: ‘If you proceed with this arrogant elitist shameful Super League nonsense – then you can stick my 4 season tickets up your Arsenal.’ 

Labour leader and Arsenal fan Sir Keir Starmer said the clubs reportedly involved ‘should rethink immediately’ and added that a non-domestic league ‘ignores’ supporters.

‘This proposal risks shutting the door on fans for good, reducing them to mere spectators and consumers,’ he said on Twitter.

Fans’ groups, including those linked to Liverpool, Spurs and Chelsea, have voiced their opposition to the clubs joining a super league.

Tottenham Hotspur Supporters’ Trust (THST) put out a statement calling for club owners Enic to ‘distance themselves from any rebel group’.

What has been the reaction on social media?

The condemnation has been visceral and near universal – no mean feat on platforms that manage to divide society on nearly every issue.

‘Football supporters don’t agree on everything, but I think we can all agree that this idea of a European Super League can absolutely f**k off,’ @AnfieldRd96 wrote on Twitter.

@txmejackala added: ‘The European Super League literally epitomises what is wrong with this sport. We are seeing a vast amount of billionaires come into the sport and they want nothing, but power and control.

‘They do not care about the fans, they see them as customers and they take them for mugs.’

The readers’ comments on Sportsmail’s story revealing the plans for the European Super League were also full of anger

‘As a season ticket holder for 40 years at Man city, if they join the misnamed ‘super’ league, I will consider my days of paying to attend days as done,’ one reader said.

Another wrote: ‘I am a Liverpool season ticket holder. I cannot speak for anyone else but his is NOT what I want. I do NOT want to watch the same teams every week. We will be barred form European competition. We will be barred from the FA and League Cup. If this goes wrong we will NOT be welcomed back. We will be a football club without a league to play in. NO! NO! NO!’

Many, however, simply scoffed at the suggestion that Tottenham were one of the biggest 12 clubs in Europe. Football fans, eh?

The world seems united in opposition to the European Super League… so is there any way the Big Six could get their way? 

The nuclear option at their disposal would be to quit the Premier League entirely. But given the billions that the league generates, that would make no sense to club owners only interested in money.

If they somehow pulled it off, when would it all start?

The ‘Founder members’ announced on Sunday night their intention to start ‘as soon as practicable’. They are targeting s start as early as the 2022/23 season.

But given the inevitable multiple legal challenges that the proposed league would face – from UEFA, the Premier League, TV broadcasters who have shelled out billions to show existing competitions – this seems the stuff of pure fantasy.