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European Super League players would be banned from Euros and World Cups, Uefa insist

 (ES Composite)
(ES Composite)

Uefa have confirmed that players would be banned from competing at the European Championship or in World Cups if they took part in a new European Super League.

It was revealed on Sunday that the Premier League’s ‘Big Six’ - Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham - would join six other teams - AC Milan, Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Inter Milan, Juventus and Real Madrid - in forming a new midweek competition.

The plan has sparked outrage, not least from Uefa, who see it as a direct attack on European football as we know it.

Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin has vowed to take strong action against the clubs and those involved.

He has said players would be banned from competing in European Championships and World Cups, while clubs would also not be allowed to participate in the Champions League or Europa League.

“As previously announced by FIFA and the six confederations, the players who will play in the teams that might play in the closed league, will be banned in playing in the World Cup and Euros,” said Ceferin.

“So they will not be able to represent their national teams at any matches.

“We are still assessing the situation with our legal team. We will see what we will do. It’s a bit too early [to say when the sanctions would be enforced], because if they come out in the middle of the night it is hard to have a solution in the morning.

“But we will take all the sanctions that we can and we will inform you as soon as we have a clear answer about it.

“But, my opinion is that as soon as possible they have to be banned from all our competitions and the players from all our competitions.”

Ceferin’s strong words - and his hunger for swift action - has sparked suggestions that players could even miss this summer’s rescheduled Euro 2020 tournament, which is due to begin on June 11.

It has also led to the possibility of Arsenal and Manchester United being removed from this season's Europa League and Chelsea, Manchester City and Real Madrid being taken out of the Champions League.

But pressed on players missing the Euros this summer, Ceferin said: “It is not clear yet, that is part of the legal assessment we are working on.

“We have a meeting tomorrow morning. The general secretary just told me we have one meeting tomorrow afternoon I think and then we will have more meetings.

“But it is really too fresh to know exactly what will happen. We will inform you accordingly.”

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