football

Updated: Nov 21, 2018 23:44 IST

A day after UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin dismissed the idea of a European Super League featuring some of the continent’s richest football clubs, Atletico Madrid CEO Miguel Angel Gil Marin said domestic leagues must be protected, while calling for ‘stronger’ continental competitions.

Speaking on the sidelines of the announcement of Atletico’s partnership with Jamshedpur-based Tata Football Academy, Marin said, “I think it’s very, very important to protect the domestic league. The balance should be just in the middle; maybe decrease the clubs in the domestic league and increase the number of European games.”

Recently leaked documents by Football Leaks had revealed that secret talks had taken place for the creation of a new Super League that could start from as early as 2021. Led by some of Europe’s elite football clubs -- Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester United are among 11 clubs named in the leaks who have participated in the talks -- the tournament, if it takes off, would include 16 teams, including 11 founding members.

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“Atletico didn’t participate in the draft and I only saw this in the media. If in the end the Super League goes ahead, Atletico will be in it for sure because of our ranking. But the best for football I think is to protect the domestic leagues and create stronger European competitions,” Marin added.

The Atletico boss also offered his support to La Liga’s plans of holding a select few league games in the US, a proposition that has, for now, been rejected by FIFA. The league plans to take its case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport if approval is not received.

“This will be decided by the court. Atletico supports La Liga’s decision because for the Spanish clubs it is important to expand our brand worldwide; in the US, India, China. It is important to play not just the Spanish Super Cup. An official (league) game (outside Spain)? Why not?”