FIFA Warns European Super League Players Would Be Banned From World Cup

FIFA president Gianni Infantino has warned players that if the Football Leak story about a breakaway European Super League does come true then anyone playing in it will be banned from international tournaments.

Away from the pitches the big stories in football at the moment are all coming from German outlet Spiegel and Football Leaks as stories about Manchester City's reported dodgy dealings come to light.

Last week the leaks gave information about a potential breakaway European Super League which would see some of the biggest clubs in the continent ditch their domestic leagues to play in a competition against each other.

The idea has long been mooted but the leaks revealed that official talks had taken place. In the plans English clubs Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City and Manchester United would be joined by Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Juventus, PSG and AC Milan as founding members.

Those 11 sides would be guaranteed as part of the venture for the first 20 years of a competition starting in 2021 and would be joined by five guest teams, Atlético Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, Marseille, Internazionale and Roma to start with.

FIFA are now warning though that players involved in the competition would be banned from other competitions with Gianni Infantino saying, "Either you are in or you are out. This includes everything."

FIFA wouldn't be happy with Europe's biggest teams if they did break away. Image: PA Images

The FIFA president had named World Cup, European Championship and national leagues as the competitions that those involved in the breakaway competition would be banned from.

FIFA legal director Alasdair Bell added, "The idea is if you break away, you break away. You don't keep one foot in and one foot out. That would be the general approach we would follow, but of course lawyers can debate this for a long time," in a comment that sounds very much like a discussion about Brexit.

These two sides could face each other more often soon enough. Image: PA Images

Of course FIFA's opinion on the Super League will no doubt be connected with their own desire to start an extended Club World Cup with the Super League likely to be more popular, especially in Europe.

There are definitely negatives to the breakaway league and most fans would rather that it didn't happen.

Topics: Manchester City, Football News, Champions League, World Cup, Euros, Gianni Infantino

Ryan Sidle

Ryan is a writer for SPORTbible. He covers all sport from football, formula one, cricket, rugby, tennis, athletics, mma and wrestling. He obviously hates YOUR football team and has no interest in synchronised swimming.

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