Europe's top football clubs created a breakaway super league but it fell apart less than 48 hours after it launched. A group of 12 of the richest teams in Europe announced they would take part in the European Super League (ESL) starting in August. This made fans, players and managers furious. Even the British Prime Minister and Britain's Prince William were angry. They said the new league would destroy football. There has been so much anger that the clubs pulled out of the ESL. This was because of protests by fans, who said the ESL was created by greedy club owners.
Six of England's richest teams agreed to join the breakaway ESL, including Manchester United and Liverpool. Top teams from Spain, like Barcelona, and Italy also signed up. No teams from Germany and France joined. This made it less European. In Germany, teams are 51-per-cent owned by fans, so fan power is big. The UK government said it would take whatever action is necessary, including legal action, to stop the ESL. Premier League clubs want to expel the six English clubs from their league. FIFA said players who played in the ESL could be banned from the World Cup.