Players Involved In European Super League Will Be Banned From International Tournaments

FIFA have issued a defiant statement threatening to ban players from international tournaments like the World Cup if they take part in a proposed European 'Super League'.

The concept of a 'Super League' has rumbled on for years.

Back in October, it emerged that Manchester United and Liverpool were 'already in talks' over joining a 'Super League' project, with a $6 billion [£4.6 billion] package being created to fund a start-up in 2022.

Then a week later, Barcelona's former president Josep Bartomeu confirmed the club had "agreed terms" to join a European Super League in the future.

"Barcelona have accepted a proposal to play in the European Super League." he said. "This would guarantee the financial status of our club going forward."

But despite the ongoing rumours surrounding a 'Super League' project, it's clear that FIFA are completely against the idea.

They released the following statement on Thursday, confirming that the only such tournament that will receive official recognition is the Club World Cup.

"In light of recent media speculation about the creation of a closed European 'Super League' by some European clubs, FIFA and the six confederations (AFC, CAF, Concacaf, CONMEBOL, OFC and UEFA) once again would like to reiterate and strongly emphasise that such a competition would not be recognised by either FIFA or the respective confederation." it read.

"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.

"As per the FIFA and confederations statutes, all competitions should be organised or recognised by the relevant body at their respective level, by FIFA at the global level and by the confederations at the continental level.

The statement added: "In this respect, the confederations recognise the FIFA Club World Cup, in its current and new format, as the only worldwide club competition while FIFA recognises the club competitions organised by the confederations as the only club continental competitions.

"The universal principles of sporting merit, solidarity, promotion and relegation, and subsidiarity are the foundation of the football pyramid that ensures football's global success and are, as such, enshrined in the FIFA and confederation statutes.

"Football has a long and successful history thanks to these principles. Participation in global and continental competitions should always be won on the pitch."

Topics: Football News, Football, FIFA, UEFA

Jack Kenmare

Jack Kenmare is a writer at SPORTbible. He's interviewed some of the biggest names in sport, including Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Pele, Carles Puyol and Tim Henman. He dabbles in all things sport but football is his biggest passion. He was once hit in the head by a wayward strike from Nicky Butt and lived to tell the tale.

@jackkenmare_