Super League: "We were cheated and furious at the way it happened" (J-M Aulas, O. Lyonnais)

"The story has ended well. For now, things are going well. As UEFA does not question the agreement that had been reached (on the new formula of the Champions League from 2024-25), there is no real damage. But we were cheated and furious at the way it happened," said Jean-Michel Aulas, president of Olympique Lyonnais (Ligue 1 Uber Eats), to the French sports media L'Equipe on 22/04/2021.

12 of the biggest European clubs (6 English, 3 Spanish, and 3 Italian) had announced the creation "as soon as possible" of a new competition, the Super League, "governed by its founding clubs" on 18/04/2021. But the six English clubs (Arsenal FC, Chelsea FC, Liverpool FC, Manchester City FC, Manchester United FC, and Tottenham Hotspur FC) gave up late on 20/04/2021, after very negative reactions from fans, authorities, most of the stakeholders in the ecosystem, as well as in the political world.

"I don't believe in a private league, whatever it is. I knew about this threat, but I never imagined it would lead to what was inflicted on us. We had an ECA board meeting on Sunday evening at 20:30 CET…