The New York Times reports UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin and Juventus patron Andrea Agnelli worked on a statement together to assure everything was fine, just hours before the Super League announcement.
UEFA chief Ceferin has attacked the former ECA President in recent days, revealing he spoke to Agnelli on Saturday and was reassured the Super League project was ‘only rumours’.
The New York Times reports UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin and Juventus patron Andrea Agnelli worked on a statement together to assure everything was fine, just hours before the Super League announcement.
UEFA chief Ceferin has attacked the former ECA President in recent days, revealing he spoke to Agnelli on Saturday and was reassured the Super League project was ‘only rumours’.
On Sunday, 12 founding clubs announced they had joined the breakaway competition and the New York Times reveals the Super League project had been kept a secret even from high-level executives. Milan technical director Paolo Maldini said he found out about the Rossoneri’s participation when it was announced on Sunday.
Today, Corriere della Sera reveals Ceferin has been talking to all the Presidents involved in the Super League project except Agnelli and the New York Times explained why the UEFA chairman is disappointed.
The feature reveals Agnelli and ‘his organisation had recommitted to a suite of reforms to the Champions League, European soccer’s crown jewel and its biggest moneymaker’, set to be confirmed and approved on Monday April 19.
But the rumours of something brewing behind the scenes continued and eventually exploded when Barcelona President Joan Laporta spilled the beans to La Liga chief Javier Tebas and set the wheels in motion.
The New York Times explains how Ceferin felt he had to address the rumours and jumped in his car for an eight-hour drive from his home in Ljubljana to his office in Switzerland.
The report continues to reveals that he tried to call Agnelli, but that the Juventus patron initially didn’t pick up the phone.
Ceferin is the Godfather to one of Agnelli’s daughters and decided to contact Agnelli’s wife to ask if she could get the Bianconeri President to call him back.
When the UEFA President was almost halfway to his office, Agnelli returned his call.
The newspaper reveals Agnelli continued to ‘reassure Ceferin that everything was fine’ but the Slovenian was not at ease and ‘suggested to issue a joint communiqúe that would put the issue to rest’.
Agnelli agreed with Ceferin, who drafted a statement in the car and sent it to Agnelli, who wanted more time to send back an amended version.
But when the hours passed and the two traded more calls, the Italian said he needed 30 more minutes and turned off his phone.
Agnelli had reportedly ‘protected the rebels’ secret for weeks’ and on Sunday night, an official announcement was published simultaneously on the 12 teams’ official websites.