UEFA are believed to be considering two-year Champions League bans for those clubs that were involved in the European Super League proposals and have not yet definitively distanced themselves from the plans.
That is the strongest punishment available for the organisation to give out, and would see those clubs barred from competing in either the Champions League or Europa League.
According to ESPN, seven of the clubs involved in the project – all of the English sides and Atletico Madrid – have been in contact with UEFA over the last 10 days and have reached an agreement with the organisation after talks which centred on lesser sanctions for those willing to formally move away from the Super League.
Real Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus and AC Milan have not backed down though, and believe their position is strong enough to avoid disciplinary action.
However, UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin would point to Article 51 of the statutes, which states ‘no combinations or alliances between… clubs affiliated, directly or indirectly, to different UEFA Member Associations may be formed without the permission of UEFA.’
UEFA are keen to pressure as many clubs as possible into turning their back on the project and are willing to impose the strictest disciplinary action on those that aren’t, as ESPN report than if nine of the 12 clubs officially pull out then the Super League would be formally terminated.
In an interview with Daily Mail last month, Ceferin revealed that while all of those clubs involved in the Super League had to be held responsible, he holds less resentment towards the English clubs after they were the first to pull out as the project collapsed.
‘Let’s see. Everyone has to take consequences for what they did and we cannot pretend nothing happened,’ Ceferin said.
‘You cannot do something like that and just say: ‘I’ve been punished because everybody hates me.’ They don’t have problems because of anyone else but themselves.
‘It’s not OK what they did and we will see in next few days what we have to do.
‘But for me it’s a clear difference between the English clubs and the other six. They pulled out first, they admitted they made a mistake. You have to have some greatness to say: ‘I was wrong.’
‘For me there are three groups of this 12 — the English Six, who went out first, then the other three [Atletico Madrid, AC Milan, Inter] after them and then the ones who feel that Earth is flat and they think the Super League still exists.
‘And there is a big difference between those. But everyone will be held responsible. In what way, we will see.’
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