Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola called on his club’s ownership to break its silence on creating a breakaway Super League, which he believes threatens the integrity and values of the sport. Guardiola said he is still waiting for more information from those behind the proposals for a closed-off league of elite clubs, 36 hours after they were first announced in a press release that revealed only a few details about the planned competition.
“The right people have to clarify — they have the obligation, the duty, as soon as possible, today better than tomorrow, tomorrow better than the day after tomorrow, to come out all around the world,” Guardiola said. “Because it is a worldwide issue. Clarify what the situation will come in, the benefits, and why they decided these teams will play and the other ones not.”
The City is one of six English teams involved in the proposed Super League, three from Italy and three from Spain. Aside from those 12 “founding clubs,” three more will be invited to join the league as permanent members, while five slots will be left open, to be determined each year.
Guardiola took issue because 15 teams, including City, would be guaranteed a place in the competition. “Sport’s not a sport when the relationship between the effort and the success, the effort, and reward, doesn’t exist,” he said. “It’s not a sport. It’s not a sport when success is already guaranteed. It’s not a sport when it doesn’t matter when you lose.
“That’s why I’ve said many times I want the best competitions as strong as possible, especially the Premier League, and that it’s not fair when one team fights, fights, fights and arrives at the top and after cannot be qualified because the success is already guaranteed for just a few clubs.”
Guardiola spoke out a day after Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp voiced concerns about the lack of competition in a closed-off Super League.
Guardiola said he felt “uncomfortable” that managers like him and Klopp were being asked to answer for their owners. “Honestly, we are not the right people to answer this question because there are presidents who can talk more clearly about the idea for the future where football wants to go,” he said.
“I would love,” Guardiola added, “the president of this committee to go out all around the world and say why we took that decision. I support my club. I know the people, and I am part of this club. But I also have my opinion, which I would love to have when I have all the information.”
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