Uefa is considering imposing sanctions on the 12 clubs involved in the failed attempt to establish a breakaway European Super League. Its president, Aleksander Ceferin, has warned they will “suffer the consequences” of “their mistake” including Thomas Partey’s Arsenal.
The Guardian understands that the appetite to punish the renegade clubs – including the Premier League’s ‘Big Six’ – is growing at European football’s governing body despite Ceferin hinting otherwise on Wednesday.
In an interview with 24UR in his homeland published on Thursday the Slovenian also took aim at two of the ESL’s key architects, the Juventus president Andrea Agnelli and his Real Madrid counterpart Florentino Pérez, and said he had been shocked by their betrayal.
“We have 235 out of 247 clubs on our side … well, we had them, and now we have 244,” Ceferin said, referring to the fact that Juventus, Madrid and Barcelona have not formally abandoned the Super League. “You are with us. Yesterday I received SMS support from practically all clubs in Europe. So now we expect everyone to realise their mistake and suffer the appropriate consequences. We’ll talk about that next week.”
Uefa is believed to be exploring what punishments could be imposed. Whether that could extend to potential bans from next season’s Champions League as some have demanded remains to be seen