: Plans for NFL-style European soccer Super League create uproar

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A dozen of Europe’s richest and most successful soccer clubs have announced their intention to form a closed Super League of professional teams, creating an uproar in the world of European sports.

  • The new league, financed by a $6 billion loan from JPMorgan
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    would include 15 founder teams and five other clubs qualifying via national championships. Matched would be played weekly throughout the year.

  • It aims to replace the current Champions League, Europe’s most prestigious soccer tournament, which is currently open each year to the three or four top clubs from each member league in the Union of European Football Associations.

  • The UEFA, as well as most national championships, has threatened to ban the teams that participate in the Super League, which include England’s top names such as Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester United
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    as well as Spain’s Real Madrid and Barcelona and Italy’s Juventus
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    among others.

  • French President Emmanuel Macron as well as U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson joined the furor on Monday to say they would support efforts to scuttle the attempt to create the Super League, which Johnson said would “strike at the heart of the domestic game.”

Read: Soccer clubs jump on proposal for elite Super League