Real Madrid asks six Premier League clubs to cover failed European Super League costs

Real Madrid has asked the six leading English clubs involved in the European Super League project to pay their share of the costs incurred after the competition failed to launch, according to The Athletic.

Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur had all indicated that they were prepared to take part in the proposed tournament.

The total bill for planning and preparing the project, as well as the costs arising from its collapse, could reach €80m (£67.3m), The Athletic reports. Real Madrid is seeking contributions from the six English clubs towards that sum.

The European Super League was announced with 12 founding clubs. Nine withdrew in the first few days after the launch: the six English clubs, Atletico de Madrid, AC Milan and Inter Milan.

Juventus subsequently left the project in 2023, while Barcelona formally withdrew in February 2026.

The clubs had signed a shareholders’ agreement for European League Company, a holding company based in Spain. However, the precise terms of those agreements have not been made public, including whether they contain financial obligations for clubs that leave the project.

After the nine clubs withdrew in April 2021, Real Madrid president Florentino Perez said: “I am not going to waste my time explaining what a binding contract is here. But the truth is that the clubs cannot leave.”

A22 Sports Management was later appointed to develop, plan and manage the European Super League project. The company is commonly known as A22.

It proposed an alternative format in which 64 clubs would compete across three divisions, with promotion and relegation available between the levels.

The plan was later expanded to 96 clubs. Under the revised proposal, 16 teams would compete in each of the first and second divisions, while the third and fourth divisions would contain 32 teams each. Qualification would be based on clubs’ performances in their domestic leagues.

A22 wrote to Uefa seeking prior approval for the project within eight weeks. The proposed competition would compete with the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League.

Uefa continues to oppose the plan and regards it as a continuation of the European Super League project.