Despite prior denials, several elite European clubs now have gone ahead and formed the group anyway...which will NOT go down well with UEFA, that's for sure.

It's been something in the works that has garnered a lot of controversy, but nothing has come to fruition.

Until now.

For years, there's been plenty of buzz about a "European Super League", a separate competition from the Champions League and the Europa League that would see Europe's biggest clubs feature year after year. Like America's biggest leagues (NBA, NHL, MLB, and NFL), there'd be no relegation and promotion, so all the teams involved wouldn't risk being demoted. And it wouldn't matter where the team finished in their domestic league, so this competition was looking quite attractive to teams like AC Milan, who lately have struggled to qualify for the Champions League due to performing poorly in Serie A over the past decade.

The Rossoneri are among the teams who are strong proponents for the European Super League as they're unfortunately lost out on quite a bit of revenue after failing to feature in European club football's elite competition for quite some time.

And they're joined by several other sides, including: Arsenal, Atletico Madrid, Chelsea, Barcelona, Inter Milan, Juventus, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Real Madrid and Tottenham Hotspur.

Interestingly, German teams aren't so keen - at least for now. Neither Bayern Munich nor Borussia Dortmund are among the teams on this list, nor ambitious French side PSG.

This announcement is especially noteworthy because UEFA are set to make some huge announcements imminently. Football's organizing body are looking to further expand the Champions League from 32 to 36 teams starting in 2024 and modify the layout to see all teams play ten matches in the first stage with opponents determined by a seeding system. 

However, this clearly isn't good enough for the 12 teams who've decided to attempt to break away and form their own league, as evidenced in their statement:

"For a number of years, the founding clubs have had the objective of improving the quality and intensity of existing European competitions throughout each season, and of creating a format for top clubs and players to compete on a regular basis.

"The formation of the Super League comes at a time when the global pandemic has accelerated the instability in the existing European football economic model.

"The pandemic has shown that a strategic vision and a sustainable commercial approach are required to enhance value and support for the benefit of the entire European football pyramid.

"The founding clubs believe the solutions proposed following these talks do not solve fundamental issues, including the need to provide higher-quality matches and additional financial resources for the overall football pyramid." 

In short, the 12 clubs involved don't feel that UEFA's plans are organized enough to help address financial concerns and properly ensure that ensure that revenue will be distributed properly. Nor do they feel that UEFA's restructuring ideas will raise as much money as their European Super League would and as such, a split is absolutely necessary, especially in this altered financial climate in a post COVID-19 world.

Will they be proven right? Only time will tell, but as of now, this move has certainly shaken the world of football to its core and may have further potentially exposed the gaping chasm between the so-called "haves" and "have nots". Hopefully it won't serve to create further rifts in an environment that's already tense due to strained financial resources that have been already stretched due to no one anticipating the havoc that COVID-19 has wreaked on the world since breaking out at the end of 2019.