Football Leaks Report Shows Bayern Among Leaders Trying to Create European 'Super League'
German outlet Der Spiegel have published a report accusing several of Europe's top clubs of working towards the formation of an elite super league unbeknownst to their national leagues and associations.
It is said that plans to birth said super league came about in 2016 while FIFA was in turmoil. Back then, football's governing body seemed leaderless, with multiple searches and arrests having taken place, while both FIFA and UEFA heads Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini relinquished their posts amid accusations of corruption.
Football Leaks claim that unearthed documents show that Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester City are among 11 clubs looking to be "founders" of the elite European division.
"To achieve that goal, some clubs have apparently even been willing to betray the traditional cooperation between the clubs and the national leagues, one which has provided the framework for European football for decades," Spiegel's report reads.
"Seven of the world's top clubs have secretly joined forces, all apparently with a single idea in mind: Boredom spells the death of any show, and the only way to combat boredom is to put on an even bigger, glitzier show, the greatest football show on earth.
"The idea is the creation of a Super League, an elite league of top-level competition reserved exclusively for the top names in European club football. Every game is a top game. That is the secret society's plan.
"Today, in November 2018, the Super League idea appears to have fresh impetus: According to the draft of a confidential term sheet that Real Madrid received just a few days ago from a consulting firm, 16 top clubs are to sign a document to establish such a league. According to the document, the league would begin operating in the 2021 season. One of the 16 clubs named in the document is FC Bayern Munich."
Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge refuted the report and released a statement through the club:
The information is said to have stemmed from an email sent by head of Bayern's legal department Michael Gerlinger to International law firm Cleary Gottlieb on February 3, 2016.
Gerlinger sought to find out whether Bayern could pull out of the Bundesliga and whether such a thing would affect the status of their players in their respective national teams.
Die Roten, along with the other 10 "founding clubs" - per the document - would register a company in Spain to "market, organise and execute" what would be called a European Super League, an entity under their full control.
