PSG president: 'Federer and Nadal never asked for a separate tournament'
"Federer and Nadal are two of the best tennis players in history, but they never asked for a closed tournament of the best players. They protect the tennis family. Please don't use my name. them to justify your failure," newspaper Marca (Spain) quoted Al-Khelaifi.
According to the president of PSG, it is ludicrous that Real, Barca and Juventus continue to pursue the plan to organize the Super League. If such a self-organized tournament by famous clubs was born, he thought football would be ruined.
In April 2021, 12 clubs including Real, Barca, Atletico, Man Utd, Liverpool, Man City, Chelsea, Tottenham, Arsenal, AC Milan, Inter and Juventus announced plans to organize the Super League. According to the original idea, the participants only included the most famous clubs in Europe plus a few clubs chosen by the group itself. The goal of the founding team was to create a more attractive and profitable arena than UEFA's Champions League.
But right after its launch, the Super League faced a harsh reaction from fans, even authorities in many countries. A few days later, except for Real, Barca and Juventus, the remaining nine clubs withdrew simultaneously.
On November 8, A22, the company promoting the Super League, met with UEFA, many senior representatives of the European Club Association ECA, fan representatives and representatives of the Professional Footballers Association. In it, most of them condemned the plan to organize the tournament.
According to Al-Khelaifi, the future of European football must take into account the interests of all stakeholders, including leagues, clubs, national football federations, fans and communities. In it, he emphasized the importance of fans. "At the meeting with A22, the voices of the groups of fans were heard very loud and clear. They spoke from the heart. Self-interest has no place in football," the president of PSG confirmed.
In the group stage of the Champions League 2022-2023, many big clubs did not win the right to continue. Barca and Juventus both had to be relegated to the Europa League, while Atletico finished fourth in Group B and were eliminated. Even Al-Khelaifi's PSG were shocked when they lost the top spot of Group H to Benfica.
According to Al-Khelaifi, it is these surprises that make football attractive. What is happening shows that the Champions League is still attractive and does not need an alternative tournament. "People say the Champions League isn't competitive enough, but a lot of big clubs didn't make it out of the group stage. What happened to PSG in the group stage is normal in football. No club has magic power. saints to win," emphasized Al-Khelaifi.
