Real Madrid president Florentino Perez has refused to back down in his defence of the disastrous European Super League and insists that anyone who thinks the project is dead is ‘completely wrong’.
Perez, who is also the president of the Super League, has come out swinging just 24 hours after the controversial project collapsed, which saw the Premier League’s ‘Big Six’ withdraw from £4.6bn scheme on Tuesday evening.
In an interview with El Larguero’s Manu Carreno, Perez claimed a smear campaign was created to oppose the Super League following global backlash, saying that midweek competition would get rid of domestic leagues – which Perez claims is not true.
Florentino Perez is refusing to back down in his defence of the European Super League
The Real Madrid president claims the 12 founding members signed a ‘binding contract’
Perez also doubled down on suggestions that the 12 founding members of the project have signed a legally ‘binding contract’, while suggesting some teams could still feature in the competition.
‘I am a bit sad, disappointed,’ he started. ‘We have been working three years on this project, on fighting the current financial situation in Spanish football. It is easy to understand – you cannot touch La Liga, so you look for more money midweek.
‘The leagues are sacred. What we can change is the midweek games. The Champions League is obsolete – it’s only interesting from the quarter-finals.
‘Among the 12 teams we lost €650million last season. This season two or three more times. This format clearly does not work.’
When asked about the six Premier League club’s withdrawal from the project on Tuesday, Perez claims that once one club had doubts, it became contagious.
Fans of the Premier League’s ‘Big Six’ protested their club’s involvement in the Super League
Tottenham supporters protested against their rebellious owner Daniel Levy on Wednesday
‘They started a campaign, which was totally manipulated, that we were going to terminate domestic leagues. That we were ending football, it was terrible.
‘There was someone in the English clubs who did not have much interest. That started to affect the others. There was fear. One of the English clubs was never really convinced.
‘The English clubs tried to do something, but they were being told they were killing football. But there is no other solution than the Super League. Or somebody invents something else.’
Perez then bizarrely claimed Chelsea fans were ‘taken’ to Stamford Bridge on Tuesday to protest to Super League, which helped spark a chain reaction in the English clubs dropping out.
He said: ‘Who brought those Chelsea fans to protest? There were only 40 Chelsea fans, and I could tell who brought them… just like here someone gave Cadiz jerseys (against Super League).’
Perez claimed Chelsea fans were ‘taken’ to Stamford Bridge on Tuesday to protest the project
Perez insists there was ‘only 40 Chelsea fans’ were protesting outside Stamford Bridge
Many supporters chose to sit in protest with a group singing: ‘If you love football sit down’
Amid his ramblings, there was no sign of an apology from the Real president and claimed he felt like he was accused of dropping a ‘nuclear bomb’ given the severity of the baclash.
‘UEFA put on a show, that I was completely surprised by,’ he added. ‘As if we’d dropped a nuclear bomb. What did we do wrong? Maybe we presented it badly, but why didn’t they let us talk about it.
‘It isn’t fair that in England six are losing and 14 winning, that big clubs in Spain are losing money and the small clubs are earning money. Football is a pyramid. If there is money at the top, then the money flows down and everyone gets some.
‘At the top [of tennis, [Roger] Federer has to play against [Rafael] Nadal. People don’t go to see Nadal against the 80th in the world.’
Cadiz fans set of flares in protest as Real’s team bus arrived at Ramon de Carranza Stadium
Banners condeming the Super League were held up on the streets of Cadiz on Wednesday
He added: ‘I have never seen aggression like it, from the president of UEFA and the domestic leagues. It seemed orchestrated. Insults, threats, like we killed football. We were trying to save football.
‘In general, there will not be big transfers this summer. When money does not flow from the rich clubs to the poor clubs, everyone suffers.
‘It’s impossible to make signings like [Kylian] Mbappe and [Erling] Haaland, in general, not just for Real Madrid, without the Super League.’
Despite the European Super League now looking dead in the water, Perez believes it can still happen, and that several of the continent’s biggest clubs can still involved.
‘Juventus and Milan have not left,’ he added. ‘Barcelona are thinking about it. Maybe we can change it a bit – that the top four in England enter, the top four in Spain. The important thing is that the big teams play each other, so the kids will watch football.
‘The founder clubs believed in this project. It is not dead. We will keep working.’
Perez’s late night interview on Spanish radio comes days after he claimed that the European Super League would ‘save football’ and that it was ‘bulls***’ that it could be cancelled if other big sides refuse to eventually join.