Rome, November 10 (BNA) Juventus and Italy captain Giorgio Chiellini came out on Wednesday to support the failed Premier League project and advocated reforms at the local level as well.
The Premier League was launched in April but collapsed within 48 hours amid a backlash from European football and governments. Juventus and Spanish clubs Real Madrid and Barcelona are the only three of the 12 founding members who failed to abandon the project.
Chiellini is one of the few players who has publicly supported the idea. “I’ve been talking to the president for a few years about this,” the veteran defender said in an interview with DAZN.
The Super League project was to move away from the Champions League and run a 20-team competition. Fifteen clubs invited from the five richest football markets in Europe will have protected status while the other five places were open to other clubs.
Juventus, which is helping lead the legal challenge by Premier League members against UEFA, has barely reached the Champions League this year and will not even qualify for European competition from its current eighth place in Serie A.
“Institutions, clubs and players must come together to reform the calendar and create new competitions to relaunch this sport that remains the most beautiful in the world, but for me it can also be improved,” Chiellini added.
Chiellini also supports plans to reduce the top flight from 20 teams to 18 teams to reduce the number of domestic matches in the crowded football calendar.
“There are very few teams in the first division at the moment, we have to be 18,” he said. “We could even go back to 16 teams, but I think 18 is the right number in order to raise competitiveness again and give more space for matches at European level.
“The world is moving forward and we must not rule out change,” Chiellini added. “I think it is necessary to find people who can discuss how to improve football together. At the moment there is no dialogue and it is heading towards an unsustainable situation for everyone: us and the clubs. Even the fans can feel that.”
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