FC Barcelona hands Super League latest blow

FC Barcelona have formally severed their ties with the European Super League, delivering what may prove to be the initiative’s most damaging setback yet. In a terse statement released by the club, Barcelona confirmed:

“FC Barcelona hereby announces that today it has formally notified the European Super League Company and the clubs involved of its withdrawal from the European Super League project.”

The announcement marks the end of a turbulent three-year association that began when the breakaway league was unveiled in 2021 with 12 founding members. A ferocious public backlash, particularly in England, prompted the rapid exit of the six Premier League sides—Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur—within 48 hours of the launch. Atlético Madrid, Inter Milan, AC Milan and, eventually, Juventus also withdrew, leaving only Real Madrid and Barcelona as the venture’s standard-bearers.

Recent months have seen relations between Barcelona and Madrid deteriorate, while club president Joan Laporta has rekindled dialogue with UEFA and the European Football Clubs grouping. Those shifting dynamics have now culminated in Barcelona’s final step away from the project.

Although the Super League has not officially dissolved, the departure of its last high-profile backer leaves the competition’s future hanging by the slenderest of threads.