21 December 2023 , 16:33
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Manchester City insisted their position on the European Super League hadn't changed and they wouldn't be commenting before making a U-turn - after Pep Guardiola had offered his own viewpoint.
The City boss is preparing his side in Saudi Arabia for Friday's Club World Cup final, where they face Brazilian side Fluminense for the right to call themselves the best in the world.
But FIFA's showpiece event has been somewhat overshadowed by the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) appearing to open the door to a European Super League being revived. Backers of the ESL were quick to declare victory after a court found rules allowing UEFA the right to grant prior approval to new competitions were contrary to EU law.
Manchester United immediately pledged their commitment to UEFA competitions and the Premier League, having been one of the 12 clubs who founded the controversial Super League in 2021 before withdrawing amid fan protests.
“Our position has not changed,” United said in a statement. “We remain fully committed to participation in UEFA competitions, and to positive co-operation with UEFA, the Premier League, and fellow clubs through the ECA on the continued development of the European game.”
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Bayern Munich, who refused to join the Super League back in 2021, and Atletico Madrid – one of the original founding clubs – also gave their support to UEFA on Thursday.
Asked about it and City's position in his pre-match press conference in Jeddah on Thursday, Guardiola said simply: "I’m not going to comment on that [the European Super League] hours before we play a final of a World Cup.
"We have time to reflect - and the lawyers and clubs will decide what we have to do."
Pep Guardiola head coach of Manchester City (Jose Breton/NurPhoto/REX/Shutterstock)That was a little bit different to City's position, a few hours earlier, that they wouldn't be making any new comment on the matter - and seemingly that their decision had already been made. The Premier League and Champions League holders were insistent that the quotes of chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak in June 2021 remained their current position.
Then, the City chairman said: “We will continue to push the envelope in everything we do. We want to be the best club in the world and to do so, we have to disrupt and we will disrupt.
"In being disruptive, sometimes you make mistakes. We have made mistakes in the past, we will make mistakes in the future, but we will do more right than wrong.
“We will be better, stronger and more successful. What I tell the fans on this is, to get to where we are today we have done a lot of things right and we have made a lot of mistakes. It's part of growing and improving.
"You need to have the courage to make mistakes and to own up to these mistakes to go forward. Regret, yes, a big learning experience. We go on and we will continue.
"It was a decision based on a view, which was a mistaken view, this will improve and strengthen our position as a club. What it missed was an important aspect which is how the fans felt about it.
"We will learn from it, I have no doubt. Our fans appreciate the heart and spirit of everything we do. Our fans, I hope, will understand when we make such a mistake like this our heart was in the right place. Our assessment was wrong. We took a decision, I took a decision on this and I take full responsibility, it was a mistake.”
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After Guardiola's, albeit brief, comments, the club's top brass issued up a fresh statement, having decided they needed to make their position unequivocally clear.
It read: " Manchester City Football Club confirmed in 2021 that it had formally enacted the procedures to withdraw from the group developing plans for a European Super League.
"Our position has not changed. We remain committed to the values of European football, and we will continue to work with fellow clubs through the ECA and participate in UEFA competitions."