Doesn’t replace domestic leagues and is an open competition that can be qualified for via sporting merit. Free to watch. Owned by the clubs and not corrupted by UEFA or FIFA.
Why are people so against this again?
"Owned by the clubs"?
The G14 will own & control the SL, just like the 20 PL clubs own & control the PL, BUT in reality, it's heavily influenced by the Red Top founding members, ManUre, the Dippers & Arse. Similarly, the SL will be the same, just like Animal Farm.
The SL's central tenet is that the European elite clubs will almost ALWAYS be involved regardless of League position, unless they finish in the bottom 20 of the Blue League & don't qualify through their domestic league position. But how likely is this in reality?
There's three Leagues:
Star - 16 teams in 2 groups of 8
Gold - 16 teams in 2 groups of 8
Blue - 32 teams in 4 groups of 8
In the Star League only the bottom 2 teams are subject to relegation to the Gold League. In the Gold League, the top 2 gain promotion to the Star League, & the bottom 2 are subject to relegation to the Blue League.
In the Blue League, the top 2 gain promotion to the Gold League, & the bottom 20 clubs are subject to relegation from European competition altogether, but based on their domestic league positions, they can reappear in the Blue League the following season.
Only 2 clubs outside of the G14 (City & Chelsea) will qualify for the inaugural SL Star League.
The top four teams in each group in the Star & Gold Leagues qualify for the SL knockout stages.
The top 2 teams from each of the Blue League's 4 Groups also qualify for the SL knockout stages.
It's a complex compromise which near enough ensures the top teams appear & play each other every season in the SL, & only 2 will be threatened by relegation from the Star League, irrespective of their domestic league positions.
Essentially, it wouldn't matter if ManUre finished 7th in the PL. They'd STILL appear in the SL regardless, merely because they're ManUre, so where's this "Based on merit" A22, Real & Barça are blathering on about? It's utter bullshit.
As long as teams finish in the top 4 of the Gold League groups, they STILL qualify for the knockout phase, with a chance to return to the Star League, even if they've been relegated to the Championship domestically.
Taking a global view, the new proposals make it very unlikely the top clubs will ever be without top level European football, unless they keep finishing bottom of the three leagues, & fall down their domestic leagues too.
HOWEVER, how likely is this if they get the riches on offer to the top teams in the SL, & are fully protected from any outside competition by their corrupt & unfair FFP rules?
The top aspiring clubs (like Newcastle) will have the chance to progress to the Star League, but with FFP in place, how long will it be before they can regularly challenge the hegemony of the G14?
The devil's in the small detail, but this format STILL heavily favours the usual suspects as it was always meant to.