Barcelona Make Stunning Announcement on Super League Despite Withdrawal of 9 Clubs

- Only Barcelona, Juventus and Real Madrid remain in the controversial Super League plans

- The Catalan club confirmed they would be part of the league, although insisted the league needs to be reformed

- Barca president Joan Laporta earlier backed the controversial breakaway league, saying it was meant to maintain financial health of clubs

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Barcelona plans to be part of the Super League, despite the withdrawal of nine out of the 12 founding clubs.

The Catalan giants broke their silence, 48 hours after the initial plans to have a breakaway league seemed to have hit a snag.

But, instead of following the likes of the Premier League Big Six as well as Inter Millan, AC Milan and Atletico Madrid in withdrawing, Barca maintained their stance but said there needed to be reforms in the newly-proposed league.

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In a statement released on Thursday, April 22, Barcelona justified their decision to remain in the Super League, saying the club did not stand for decisions based on “unjustified pressure and intimidation”.

“The decision (to be founding member of the European Super League) was made in the conviction that it would have been a historical error to turn down the opportunity to be part of this project as one of its founding members. As one of the world's top sports club, our intention shall always be to be at the forefront, this being an indispensable part of the club's identity and its sporting, social and institutional spirit,” the statement started.

“Given the public reaction that the aforementioned project has generated in many and various spheres, there is no question that FC Barcelona appreciates that a much more in-depth analysis is required into the reasons that have caused this reaction in order to reconsider, if necessary, and to the required extent, the proposal as originally formulated and resolve all those issues, always for the good of the general interest of the football world. Such in-depth analysis needs time and the necessary composure to avoid taking any rash action,”

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As at the publication of this article, Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus remain the only three clubs yet to withdraw.

In the wake of the spectacular collapse of the Super League, Florentino Perez, the Real Madrid President refuted claims that the plans were dead, instead saying things were on standby.

Barca president Joan Laporte echoed Perez’s sentiments, saying the new league was meant to safeguard the financial health of the game.

"We will speak more about it when the time comes but for now we understand there is a need for it, even though our members will have the final say," Laporta told Catalan network TV3.

Despite clubs announcing they had left the Super League, Perez, who doubles up as Super League chairman, said the "12 clubs had not left yet" as there were binding contracts in place.

Earlier, Legit.ng reported that Florentino Perez, the president of the European Super League has stated that their project is still on standby and that clubs that withdrew their interest are yet to officially leave.

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All the big six Premier League clubs have withdrawn from the project after pressure from fans and two out of the six remaining have also followed suit.

The remaining clubs left in the new league are Juventus, AC Milan, Barcelona and Real Madrid but Perez insists the project will go on as planned.

Perez claimed that Los Blancos' income dropped by a double and could only recover through the massive midweek income coming from the Super League.

The 74-year-old claimed that plans had been ongoing in the last three years and that the super clubs can only make revenue from the project.

Source: Legit.ng