Real Madrid, UEFA reach 'agreement' over Super League dispute

Real Madrid's French forward Kylian Mbappe (left) and Manchester City's Norwegian striker Erling Haaland during the UEFA Champions League football match at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester on February 11, 2025. [ AFP]

The European Super League saga drew towards an end as Real Madrid, the last club still involved in the failed breakaway project, and UEFA announced on Wednesday an agreement to help resolve their legal dispute.

Spanish giants Madrid, whose president Florentino Perez has relentlessly championed the idea of a Super League, and promoters A22 Sports Management, were seeking $4 billion in damages from European football governing body UEFA after the project collapsed.

"UEFA, the European Football Clubs (EFC, the sole, independent body representing football clubs within Europe) and Real Madrid CF reach an agreement for the good of European club football," read a statement published by Real Madrid and UEFA.

"This agreement of principles will also serve to resolve their legal disputes related to the European Super League, once such principles are executed and implemented."

In the statement Real Madrid and UEFA said their agreement was over "respecting the principle of sporting merit with emphasis on long-term club sustainability" and "the enhancement of fan experience through the use of technology".

Last week, Spanish champions Barcelona confirmed their withdrawal from the Super League, which was launched by 12 clubs in 2021 but quickly folded under the weight of immense fan and institutional pressure.

Shortly after the semi-closed Super League project was announced, the six English clubs involved -- Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United, Tottenham and Chelsea -- all withdrew.

Four other clubs, Atletico Madrid, Inter Milan, AC Milan and Juventus, followed suit by 2024, leaving only Barca and Real Madrid still involved.

After a Spanish court ruled that opposition to the Super League from world and European football governing bodies FIFA and UEFA "prevented free competition", Madrid and A22 plotted legal action against UEFA.

A source close to the matter told AFP that Wednesday's announcement was "a historic agreement" and the beginning "of a period of peace" which would benefit all parties.

In 2022, UEFA decided to expand the Champions League to 36 teams and introduce the league phase, grouping all sides in the same table and increasing the number of matches from six to eight, for the 2024/25 season onwards.