German clubs join PSG in snubbing new league

The 12 European Super League breakaway clubs looked increasingly isolated last night as Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Porto, Paris St-germain and Ajax appeared to rule out joining them.

RB Leipzig also condemned the scheme to ensure the Bundesliga would not be represented at all in the new competition backed by an investment bank.

Other big clubs signalled that they were sticking with Uefa by agreeing to take on key roles to replace the rebels who have left empty seats at the European Club Association.

Dortmund were first to speak out against other clubs for abandoning the status quo on the eve of Champions League reforms being agreed. “The board members of the ECA came together for a virtual meeting on Sunday evening, where it was agreed that the board’s decision from last Friday still stands,” Dortmund’s chief executive, Hansjoachim Watzke, said.

“This decision dictates that all clubs wish to implement the proposed reforms to the Champions League. The ECA board members took a clear stance in rejecting plans for the establishment of a Super League.”

Karl-heinz Rummenigge, chief executive of Champions League holders Bayern, said: “Bayern have not been involved in the plans for creating a Super League. We are convinced that the current structure in football guarantees a reliable foundation. Bayern welcomes the reforms of the Champions League because we believe they are the right step to take for the development of European football.”

The German Football Association confirmed that it too was against the new competition, while, in Portugal, Porto released a statement that they too had rejected the chance to be part of the new venture, the club’s president Pinto da Costa saying that they “cannot participate in anything that is against the principles and rules of the EU and Uefa”.

Ander Herrera, the senior PSG midfielder, also spoke out against the plans.

“I fell in love with popular football, with the football of the fans, with the dream of seeing the team of my heart compete against the greatest,” he said.

“If this European Super League advances, those dreams are over, the illusions of the fans of the teams that are not giants of being able to win on the field competing in the best competitions will end.

“I love football and I cannot remain silent about this, I believe in an improved Champions League but not in the rich stealing what the people created, which is nothing other than the most beautiful sport on the planet.”

Following confirmation that former ECA chairman Andrea Agnelli had signed up to the Super League, PSG’S Nasser Al-khelaifi, Bayern’s Michael Gerlinger and Ajax’s Edwin van der Sar agreed to be part of an executive committee managing operations in a transition period.

Rummenigge, meanwhile, was nominated to replace Agnelli as one of the ECA’S two representatives on Uefa’s executive committee.