Read on Twitter
The history of European soccer's long-discussed, hastily arranged, belatedly announced, much-derided and quickly abandoned Super League in nine tweets coming up:
Sunday morning: @tariqpanja reports on the plan -- even before the plotters have had a chance to announce it. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/18/sports/soccer/super-league-united-liverpool-juventus-madrid.html
. @RorySmith notes what soccer would lose, and why fans (and sponsors, and TV broadcasters, and the news media) bear some blame for the idea because we would probably all watch it anyway: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/18/sports/soccer/super-league-real-madrid-liverpool.html?action=click&module=RelatedLinks&pgtype=Article
By Monday morning, the fight to stop the Super League was on, highlighted by frantic phone calls, shouts of "Judas!" and words like "snakes" and "liars" being tossed around. Notable? A lack of defenders for the project. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/19/sports/soccer/european-super-league-football.html
(Still not sure what the Super League even was? We can catch you up really fast right here. We’ll wait for you.) https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/19/sports/soccer/super-league-explainer.html
Politicians, players, coaches, fans, sponsors add led their voices to a growing chorus shouting "No!" And FIFA weighed in, reminding everyone that it holds the power of excommunication. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/20/sports/soccer/super-league-fifa-psg.html
Tuesday was a blur. First whispers and then street protests and then the news: City was out. Chelsea was wavering. Arsenal and Spurs and Manchester United walked away. Liverpool too. Forty-eight hours after it began, it was all over. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/20/sports/soccer/super-league-collapse.html
How, @RorySmith asked, could the founders have been so blind? How could they not have seen this coming? And did we ever have to take their threats seriously again? https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/21/sports/soccer/super-league-florentino-perez.html
The back story was even richer, though. How Barcelona tipped everyone's hand, how Trans raised the alarm, how PSG and Bayern turned down the league and then helped to kill it, how an olive branch tucked into a speech in Switzerland gave England's clubs a way out.
The full, definitive story of the brief and unhappy life of the European soccer Super League is here, expertly and comprehensively reported and told by @tariqpanja and @RorySmith. It’s wild, and well worth your time. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/22/sports/soccer/super-league-soccer.html
