Bernd Reichart, the new chief executive officer of the firm advertising the Super League, asserts that European football must conduct discussions to rethink its future and cautions that it is “becoming unsustainable” under the current system.
Reichart, the 48-year-old former CEO of Germany’s RTL media group, was appointed head of A22 Sports Management on Wednesday.
“European football needs an open and honest debate about its future,” Reichart told AFP 18 months after the failed effort to replace the UEFA Champions League with a 12-team breakaway Super League.
“Football faces challenges that will not resolve itself,” he remarked.
“European football is losing its uncontested worldwide leading position. European club football falls short of its potential by failing to provide the best sport on the global stage week after week.
Young audiences have increasingly resorted to other forms of entertainment.
Reichart intends to reach out to numerous football stakeholders, including clubs, players, coaches, fans, the media, and policymakers.
“I believe communication is possible, and it’s positive that there is awareness that the (status quo) might change. Clubs should be prepared to define their own futures and explore what the new environment would look like,” he added.
“Football can do better; clubs should be empowered to lead such a debate and be able to suggest new solutions without fear of threats, punishments, or expulsion from competition, as has been the case in the past.
This trend has been accelerated by the (Covid-19) epidemic; the system is broken.
Launched by several of Europe’s biggest teams in April 2021, the Super League failed to shake up European football due to the outrage of many fans and the threat of political intervention.
The notion of a closed battle for Europe’s top infuriated supporters in particular, but Reichart stated that a new strategy would exclude this possibility.
Reichart stated, “one of our important messages is that permanent membership is off the table, and we want to negotiate based on an open competition based on sports merit.”
Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Juventus are the three clubs still in contention for the Super League. The European Court of Justice will resolve a lawsuit concerning UEFA’s alleged abuse of a dominating position at the beginning of 2023.
Reichart is optimistic despite UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin’s assertion in May that the Super League initiative was “dead for good or at least for 20 years.”
Reichart, an expert in media and sports rights who had worked for the Spanish media conglomerate Atresmedia, remarked, “You may get dubious if someone tells you repeatedly that something is dead.”
Today, we demonstrate that the program is not dead; rather, it is evolving, reforming, being reevaluated, and reaching out to stakeholders and the football community.
In response to the danger posed by the Super League, UEFA restructured the Champions League for 2024 to include 36 clubs instead of 32 and an eight-day mini-league instead of the usual group stage.
Reichart stated, “This is not moving in the right direction.”
“I’m fairly certain that fans will dislike the 2024-2027 system, which has glaring flaws, a large number of more games, and the same old last 16 when the Champions League is at its most attractive and exciting in the spring.”
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