A22 Sports Management, the firm in charge of re-animating the controversial European Super League (ESL) project, has today (December 17) announced that it has “initiated the process” for the official recognition of its newly rebranded Unify League by the world (FIFA) and European (UEFA) soccer governing bodies.
The company has presented a new format that will now be known as the Unify League, named for the Unify free-to-air streaming platform that it has said every match will be streamed on.
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Unify will feature both free, ad-supported broadcasts and a paid subscription premium tier.
In the new proposal, A22 has also revamped the qualification model for the proposed tournament, which is based on the performance of clubs in their domestic leagues.
96 clubs will compete in the Unify League, each playing 14 games minimum, and a maximum of 18 for those that go through the knockout stages to the final of each of its four proposed tiers, named the Star League, Gold League, Blue League, and Union League.
The fixtures would be scheduled to accommodate the domestic leagues, and A22 says it will not increase the number of current matchdays on the calendar.
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By GlobalDataSpeaking on the process initiation, A22 chief executive Bernd Reichart stated: “A22 is focused on ensuring the sustainable growth and development of football.
“Our extensive engagement with key stakeholders revealed a number of pressing challenges facing the sport including increasing subscription costs for fans, an overloaded player calendar, insufficient investment in women’s football, and dissatisfaction with the format and governance of the current pan-European competitions. Our proposal is designed to directly address these challenges.
“Now is the time for all stakeholders, including UEFA and FIFA, to bring real innovation that prioritizes fan experience and affordability, player welfare and match competitiveness. We remain committed to fostering relationships built on mutual respect, transparency, and constructive dialogue. The fans, players, clubs, leagues and other groups that make up the football community deserve nothing less.”
The announcement comes almost a year to the day since the ruling on December 21, 2023, from the European Court of Justice (ECJ) which ruled that FIFA and UEFA acted unlawfully by blocking clubs from joining the breakaway ESL in its first incarnation.
A22 in its statement references this, explaining: “Any competition where qualification is inclusive and meritocratic, and which complies with the overall match calendar can be officially established.”
Naturally, this revamped proposal has already drawn widespread criticism, with the Spanish top-flight LaLiga already releasing a brief statement on the announcement, saying: “Once again, A22 has presented yet another model of the failed European Super League, now called Unify League.
“A project that threatens the governance of European football by seeking to follow a handful of big clubs for their own benefit, promoting a broadcast rights commercialization model that would benefit only a few elitist clubs and destroy the economy of national leagues.
“The project continues to lack support from clubs, federations, players, fans, national governments and European institutions.”
LaLiga president Javier Tebas has long been a critic of A22 and its various attempts to challenge FIFA and UEFA’s dominance, previously calling the company “deceitful”.
