Aberdeen chairman Dave Cormack has responded to the latest developments in the European Super League and claimed the money gap between the Dons and Celtic could double.
The Court of Justice of the EU has ruled that FIFA and UEFA rules regarding the prior approval of club football competitions, such as the Super League, are contrary to EU law.
However, the ruling also states that there is no guarantee that a European Super League will be approved in the long term.
Regardless, the move has put a potential ESL back in the headlines with the company A22 Sports unveiling a new 64-team format in which Cormack believes Celtic could be part of the future.
The Dons president told social media station X: “This resolution will probably replace European football forever. The replacement of the 3 existing European Cup competitions will be approximately 60 clubs that will form 3 leagues according to the classification and guarantee a minimum of 14 European competitions. Club Match Season. . . The only chance for the clubs ranked 61st is to pass the qualifying rounds to access only the 3rd league, where there will be relegation.
“This will be the Trojan horse of a European Super League and eventually cross-border leagues, because when the biggest clubs abandon their domestic leagues, advertising for the remaining groups will drop.
“Its board of directors of Aberdeen FC has been waiting for this resolution for some time. Throughout our history, in the organisational stages of this season, the appetite for European football has grown considerably.
“We are working with like-minded clubs across Europe to make sure we do our utmost to deliver European club competition with similarly competitive clubs, the absence of which will lead to double the current gap in finances versus Celtic and Rangers, who will be included in those 60 ranked teams. As usual, in Scotland, we have slept-walked our way into this without any discussion.”
Cormack speaks here with inevitability and brags about Celtic in a separatist format.
However, Celtic have made it clear in the past that they wish to pursue a long career in European football alongside UEFA and have released a statement to this effect today.
While UEFA seems to have the backing of many of the big clubs lately (Manchester United, Atletico Madrid and Bayern Munich also appear today), new proposals from the ESL may put pressure on them to further revamp the Champions League.
Big changes are coming from the 2024/25 season with eight games at organisational level guaranteed for those who qualify. But is this enough of an update for clubs to worry about falling further into the English Premier League?
We could see the landscape change over the next decade but, for now, Celtic are committed to the UEFA and European Club Association framework, not an ESL – despite Cormack’s verdict today.
Elsewhere, Celtic faced Chelsea on Wednesday night in the Premier League International Cup clash.