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READING:

The plan created by Europe's top football clubs to create a breakaway super league seems to be falling apart less than 48 hours after it was launched. A group of 12 of the richest football teams in Europe announced they would take part in the European Super League (ESL) starting in August. This created fury among fans, players, managers, Premier League teams and even the British Prime Minister and Britain's Prince William. They all said the new league would destroy football. They said it was created by greedy club owners. There has been so much anger that top clubs Chelsea and Manchester City are already preparing to withdraw from the ESL due to a backlash from fans.

Six of England's richest teams agreed to participate in the breakaway ESL, including Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal. Top teams from Spain (including Barcelona) and Italy also signed up. No teams from Germany and France are involved, making the ESL less European. In Germany, teams are 51-per-cent owned by fans, so fan power is bigger in Germany than in England. The UK government said it will take "whatever action is necessary," including legal options, to stop the ESL. Fourteen Premier League clubs said they would take legal action to expel the six English clubs from the Premier League. Football's governing bodies FIFA and UEFA said players who played in the ESL could be banned from the World Cup.

* At the time of uploading this lesson, nine of the 12 teams have withdrawn from the ESL.

Try easier levels. The listening is a little shorter, with less vocabulary.

Football / Soccer - Level 0  |  Football / Soccer - Level 1  |   Football / Soccer - Level 2

This page has all the levels, listening and reading for this lesson.

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