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You will be kicked out of Serie A if you join Super League, Juventus warned

Football

By Mirror | May 11, 2021

**Serie A - Juventus v AC Milan - Allianz Stadium, Turin, Italy - May 9, 2021 Juventus' Giorgio Chiellini** [Reuters, Massimo Pinca]

The president of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) has threatened Juventus with expulsion from Serie A if they do not withdraw from the European Super League (ESL).

Juve are one of three founding members yet to pull out of the breakaway division, along with La Liga duo Barcelona and Real Madrid.

The other nine teams, including AC Milan and Inter Milan, quickly U-turned on their involvement in the face of mass backlash after the ESL was unveiled last month.

Juventus president Andrea Agnelli was one of the chief architects of the competition and said he "remains convinced of the beauty of the project" even after its rapid demise.

As such, the Turin giants are yet to formally withdraw from the ESL - and FIGC president Gabriele Gravina is prepared to take ruthless action.

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"The rules are clear. If Juventus is still part of the Super League when it enters next season, it can't participate in Serie A," Gravina told Italian outlet Radio Kiss Kiss.

"I would be sorry for the fans but rules are rules and they apply to everyone."

He added: "I hope this holdout ends soon."

The Premier League's 'Big Six', both Milan clubs and Atletico Madrid agreed a settlement with UEFA last week as a peace deal was struck.

Under the terms, they will pay £13million to grassroots charities and hand back five per cent of European revenue from the 2023/24 season.

But Juventus, Barcelona and Real Madrid refused to agree to the punishment and hit back at UEFA with a defiant statement.

"The founding clubs have suffered, and continue to suffer, unacceptable third-party pressures, threats, and offences to abandon the project and therefore desist from their right and duty to provide solutions to the football ecosystem via concrete proposals and constructive dialogue," the statement read.

"This is intolerable under the rule of law and Tribunals have already ruled in favour of the Super League proposal, ordering FIFA and UEFA to, either directly or through their affiliated bodies, refrain from taking any action which may hinder this initiative in any way while court proceedings are pending."