FROM THE
ASSISTANT
EDITOR
More measures
to ward off Super
League plans
Plans to prevent the introduction of a new
European Super League have gathered pace
in recent weeks.
InJanuary, FIFA – with support from all six
continental confederations, including UEFA- issued a statement declaring: “Any club or
player involved in such a competition would as
a consequence not be allowed to participate in
any competition organised by FIFA or their
respective confederation.”
Weeks later, the Football Supporters Europe,
a group representing fans, also added their
objections with a statement signed by “a wide
cross section of European fans, including
national fans’ organisations, fans of the top
200 ranked UEFA clubs, fans of clubs that
reportedly back a breakaway league, and fans
of previous winners of European competitions.”
“We are all united in our opposition to the
creation of a European Super League – an
unpopular, illegitimate, and dangerous scheme
in the eyes of the overwhelming majority of
fans,” the statement read.
Meanwhile, the Premier League put together
a raft of proposals for UEFA to re-shape the
Champions League, including replacing the
In recent years the Champions League knockout
rounds have delivered some epic drama worthy
ofitsownNetflixseries.FromBayernMunich’s
8-2thrashingofBarcelonainLisbonlastyear,
to Liverpool’s extraordinary semi-final comeback
againstthesameopponentsin2019,plusthe
unexpected heroics of Ajax, Atalanta and RB Leipzig,
thisstageofthecompetitionhaswitnessedsome
of football’s most defining and
iconic moments. As crunch time
begins again, we’ve taken a look
atalltheteamsinvolvedinthe
last16(page52),plusaglance
at the players to watch in the
Europa League (page 60).
If the UEFA competitions can
match the dying minutes of the
Copa Libertadores final, then
we’llhaveplentytolookforward
to.TimVickeryhasafullreportfromthe
Maracana on page 84. The Club World Cup has
been and gone too, with Samindra Kunti covering
thetournamentinQatar(page82),andhe’snot
theonlypersonwithaneyeontheMiddleEast
country: John Duerden has given us an update
on the 2022 World Cup preparations (page 32).
Finally, we’ve had the chance to assess the
Januarytransferwindow.There’saWorld Soccer
debutforEmreSarigulashetakesalookatMesut
Ozil’sarrivalatFenerbahce(page28),plussixof
thebestsigningson
page 64 and the usualround-up of the most
eye-catching comings
andgoingsonpage18.UEFAJamie Evans, Assistant Editor
“If the UEFA
competitions
can match the
dying minutes
of the Copa
Libertadores
final, then we’ll
have plenty to
look forward to”THEWORLD THIS MONTH