European Super League operating company A22 and Real Madrid formally sued UEFA, claiming 4.5 billion euros in their case

Hupu reported on November 25 that Aspen exclusively reported that the European Super League officially filed a lawsuit against UEFA. The two lawsuits combined would total more than 4.5 billion euros, with Real Madrid claiming the largest amount.

In addition, the Super League went further: it not only demanded compensation, but also sent a letter to UEFA President Alexander Ceferin, urging him to comply with the EU Court of Justice's ruling and approve the operation of the Super League.

The content of the letter obtained by this newspaper has been reported by other European media.

A22, the promoter of the Super League, wrote to UEFA in December 2024, requesting it to recognize the unified league. The request went unanswered, but negotiations ensued and the two sides ultimately failed to reach an agreement. So now, with another favorable ruling and a €4.5 billion lawsuit pending, A22 is once again asking UEFA to formally recognize the legitimacy of the European Super League.

In the months following the submission of the letter of recognition, A22 engaged in extensive negotiations with UEFA to seek common ground and avoid further conflict.

"Despite our significant concessions, no agreement has been reached. Therefore, we hereby reiterate our request to UEFA to formally endorse our proposal (which has been modified in the light of the negotiations described above) as soon as possible and in any case no later than eight weeks from the date of this letter." The letter to UEFA's headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, reads.

In the letter, A22 explained in detail the negotiations it has conducted with UEFA over the past year, but has never been able to reach any agreement. They believe that this is actually a strategy adopted by UEFA to delay the start of the Super League.

Therefore, they ask UEFA to compensate them for the losses they have caused so far, but this does not mean that they give up creating this event.

A22 promoters explained that they sat down to negotiate in order to "come up with a mutually acceptable solution that would deliver substantial benefits to fans, players and clubs. Over the course of seven months, we have focused on a very specific set of key objectives that will be consistent from 2021 onwards." It has always been the cornerstone of our work.”

In order to reach an agreement, the European Super League officially proposed the following improvements to UEFA:

Format: The Super League did not propose any changes to the existing UEFA club competition qualifying process or the three-tier structure of the competition (i.e. Champions League, Europa League, UEFA Europa League). Instead, they proposed dividing the 36 teams participating in the Champions League stage into two 18-team groups (based mainly on UEFA rankings).

In the group stage, each team will only compete within the group, and the team with the best results will advance to the knockout stage or the play-off stage (depending on the situation). All participating clubs still have a chance to win the championship. UEFA rejected the proposal.

Management structure: The Super League does not propose to modify the existing management structure, including the decision-making bodies of the European Football Association Federation (EFC, formerly the European Players Association) and UEFA. Instead, it proposes to add a board of directors composed of the majority of participating clubs and player representatives from UEFA and the European Football Association Federation (EFC, formerly the European Players Association).

The board will have veto power over format changes, revenue distribution, and decisions affecting the commercial and competitive aspects of the game. UEFA also rejected the proposal.

Unify platform: Although UEFA expressed approval of the idea of ​​revenue distribution through the platform (Joan Laporta revealed some details of the negotiations in an interview in July 2025), UEFA ultimately rejected the concept of "free football".

In view of this, the European Super League officials and A22 believe that there is no other way but to claim compensation and ask UEFA to recognize its competition.

"Super Championship Format": There are 36 teams in the top league, divided into two groups. The two groups of teams will meet again in the knockout stage.

The Super League abandoned the previously proposed competition format and instead adopted the "Super Championship format" negotiated and determined in recent months, with all 36 teams divided into two groups. In this so-called Venus League (the top competition), the groups will be divided into two groups:

Group A: the Star League champions, the champions of the six highest-ranked national leagues (ranked according to UEFA country coefficients), and the 11 teams with the highest UEFA club coefficients among the remaining 18 qualified teams;

Group B: the remaining 18 qualified teams. In the group stage, teams will compete within their respective groups, and the teams with the best results will advance to the knockout stage or play-off stage (as the case may be).

The top six in Group A and the top two in Group B will directly advance to the top 16. The bottom eight from Group A and Group B will compete against each other in the top 32.