Just when you thought UEFA Euro 2020 couldn't be any more disrupted, the European Super League comes along.
Sunday's announcement of the breakaway league founded by 12 European clubs has cast much of football into doubt, not least the Champions League, which it would seem likely the Super League could end up replacing.
While the official statement from the new competition suggests that this new organisation would seek to work with UEFA and domestic leagues, UEFA seems to be refusing to play ball.
"As previously announced by FIFA and the six Confederations," UEFA said in their statement", the clubs concerned will be banned from playing in any other competition at domestic, European or world level, and their players could be denied the opportunity to represent their national teams." So what happens to Euro 2020?
Will European Super League club players be banned from Euro 2020?
UEFA has already threatened that any player taking part in the newly-formed Super League could face being banned not only from their domestic competitions but from UEFA competitions, too.
This will naturally cover both the Champions League and Europa League - which the Super League is in direct competition with - but also international competition.
This could mean that Euro 2020 will be off-limits for Super League players, as UEFA has suggested.
Reports today say that UEFA chief Alexander Ceferin has reiterated his stance that any Super League player should be banned from playing in the World Cup and European Championship.
UEFA’s Alexander Ceferin confirms: “The players that will play in the Super League will be banned from playing in the World Cup and Euros. Ceferin. They will not be allowed play for their national teams”. 🚫🇪🇺 #SuperLeagueApril 19, 2021
The European footballing body could find some surprising support if they do go down this route: domestic football organisations including the FA in England have also come out strongly against the proposal.
The FA said that it "would not provide permission to any competition that would be damaging to English football, and will take any legal and/or regulatory action necessary to protect the broader interests of the game."
What 'permission' could they be talking about? If they were to block Super League teams from participating in the FA Cup, it's easy to see how backing bans for players from international competitions could follow.
With Euro 2020 so close, imposing bans on players for this summer's tournament may prove too much – the legal wrangle that would inevitably ensue (with backing from the Super League's big-money bankrollers) would probably not be settled in the next six weeks.
If so, the 2022 World Cup, being held in Qatar next winter, could become the first major tournament to be affected by this new competition.
Would the Super League clubs form their own international tournaments?
There has been suggestion and rumour that if the clubs involved in the Super League have players banned from international football, they form their own international tournaments.
This is strictly conjecture at this point and has not been confirmed nor so much as reported on by any trusted source.
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