Super League files $5.2 billion lawsuit against UEFA

The European soccer Super League is launching legal action against UEFA. Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez also confirmed during the club’s general assembly that the Spanish giants had also started legal proceedings. The total claim will exceed 4.5 billion euros ($5.2 billion) once both suits are added together, with Real Madrid’s case making up by far the largest share. The Super League is also going a step further. It is not only seeking damages, it has also sent a letter to UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin urging him to comply with the ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) and approve the Super League, according to the text of the letter seen by this newspaper and reported by other European outlets.

A22, the company promoting the Super League, sent a letter in December 2024 asking UEFA to recognize the Unify League, a request that went unanswered but did lead to negotiations that ultimately did not produce any agreement.

That is why, once again, but this time with another favorable ruling in its pocket and a 4.5 billion euro lawsuit on the table, A22 is asking UEFA for official recognition of the Unify League.

In the months following the submission of the Recognition Letter, A22 held extensive negotiations with UEFA to try to find common ground and avoid fresh conflict. “Despite our substantial concessions, no agreement has been reached. As a result, we hereby reiterate our request for official UEFA recognition of our proposal (as amended to reflect the negotiations mentioned above) as soon as possible and, in any event, no later than eight weeks from the date of this letter,” the letter sent to UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, states.

In the letter, A22 sets out in detail what it has negotiated with UEFA over the past year, stressing that no agreement was reached and arguing that the talks were really a way to buy time and delay the launch of the Super League. For that reason, it is asking UEFA to compensate it for the damages and losses caused to date, without that implying any renunciation of its plans to launch the competition.

Seven months of detailed negotiations

The Super League’s promoter explains that it sat down at the table “to offer a jointly agreed solution that would deliver substantial benefits for fans, players and clubs. Over this seven month period, we focused on a narrow and very specific set of key objectives that have underpinned our work since 2021.”

The Super League put the following proposals to UEFA in an effort to reach an agreement:

Format: The Super League did not propose any changes to the current qualification process for UEFA club competitions or to the three tier tournament structure (that is, Champions League, Europa League and Conference League), but it did propose splitting the 36 clubs in the Champions League league phase into two groups of 18, based mainly on UEFA rankings. Clubs would play only within their own group during the group phase, with the best performing teams advancing to the knockout phase or to a playoff round, as applicable. All participating clubs would still have a chance to win the competition. UEFA rejected this change.

Governance: The Super League did not propose changes to the existing governance structure, including the European Football Clubs (EFC) (formerly known as the European Club Association, ECA) and UEFA’s decision making bodies, but it did propose adding a Board of Directors made up of a majority of participating clubs and representatives of players, UEFA and the EFC (formerly ECA). This board would have veto power over format changes, revenue distribution and decisions affecting the commercial and sporting aspects of the competition. UEFA also shut the door on this proposal.

The Unify platform: Although UEFA liked the idea of distribution through the platform, as Joan Laporta confirmed in a July 2025 interview in which he revealed some details of the talks, the proposal to offer free football content through that platform also ended up being rejected by UEFA.

Faced with that situation, the Super League believes it has no option but to seek damages as well as recognition of its competition.

Players will have a voice in the Super League

In its letter, the Super League sets out the structure of the Unify League Board of Directors as follows: “14 of the participating clubs, three player representatives and three UEFA/FIFA representatives.” Players are usually sidelined from this type of decision, and the Super League is seeking to bring them into its governance model. In recent months there has been a growing chorus of criticism about fixture congestion and the number of competitions and its impact on player health. By giving players a seat at the decision making table, the Super League is responding to a concern widely shared in dressing rooms.

The “Super Champions” format: 36 clubs in the top tier, split into two groups that meet again in the knockouts

The Super League is dropping the formats it had put forward previously in favor of the one it negotiated in recent months. It is a Super Champions format with 36 clubs divided into two groups. In the Unify Star League, the top competition, the groups would be split in two as follows: Group A would include the Star League champion, the champions of the six highest ranked domestic leagues (according to UEFA’s Country Coefficient) and the 11 clubs with the highest UEFA Club Coefficient among the remaining qualified teams (18 clubs in total). Group B would consist of the remaining 18 qualified clubs. During the group phase, clubs would play within their own group and the best performing teams would advance to the knockout phase or the playoff round, as applicable. The top six in Group A and the top two in Group B would go straight through to the round of 16. The next eight teams from Group A and Group B would meet in the round of 32.

In the Super League’s other competitions, the second and third tier tournaments would replicate this model. Across all three competitions, the qualification method would remain the same, through the domestic leagues and in the same proportions.

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