Barcelona 'formally' withdraw from European Super League project amid increasingly bitter rivalry with Real Madrid

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Real Madrid and Barcelona's deteriorating relationship following a potential refereeing scandal involving Barcelona has seen the Catalan club's president announce they have withdrawn from the European Super League project, currently called the Unify League. Barcelona president Joan Laporta has said the club will re-establish links with the European Football Clubs group and UEFA.

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Barcelona have confirmed that they have withdrawn from the proposed European Super League.

The Super League was initially launched in 2021 with a host of clubs pledging their support, but the six Premier League teams involved - Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur - all withdrew shortly after the announcement in the face of public opprobrium during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

Other clubs linked to the project to withdraw included Juventus, AC Milan, Internazionale and Atletico Madrid, with Real Madrid and Barcelona the only two clubs left in favour of the controversial project.

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In recent months, Barcelona have been brought back into the European Football Clubs (EFC) group and re-aligned with UEFA under the direction of Barcelona president Joan Laporta.

In October, Laporta had announced that he planned to re-establish his club’s links with UEFA and the EFC ahead of this most recent announcement.

On Saturday, current La Liga champions Barca released a statement confirming the decision had been taken.

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It read: "Barcelona hereby announces that it has formally notified the European Super League Company and the clubs involved of its withdrawal from the European Super League project."

The Super League had been relaunched in 2024 as the Unify League in response to criticism, with the prospect of no relegation meaning that the founding teams would remain part of the league regardless of results.

The promoter of the Super League, A22, claimed it had contacted UEFA and FIFA as it looked to be sanctioned as an official European tournament. But no such permission was given.

UEFA has instituted changes in recent years in an attempt to improve the UEFA Champions League format and gain support from the sides involved.

Instead of eight groups of four, 36 teams now participate in a league format, each playing eight games.

At the end of the league stage, the first eight teams qualify for the knockout rounds proper, while the teams from ninth to 24th play one another in a two-legged play-off for the right to move into the next round. The bottom eight sides are eliminated.

The move from Barcelona comes against the backdrop of a deteriorating relationship between La Liga giants Real Madrid and Barcelona.

The long-time rivals had both pledged their support to the Super League as they looked to compete financially with Premier League sides who often boast owners from wealthy states, and also enjoy much larger domestic broadcast revenue.

However, Real president Florentino Perez has been forthright in his criticism of Barcelona after the Negreira case emerged, with reports suggesting Barcelona had made payments to the vice president of the Spanish refereeing commission between 2001 and 2018.

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