Europe’s top football clubs plan a Super League of their own

THEY HAVE already been dubbed the “dirty dozen”. On April 18th 12 of Europe’s best-known football clubs announced that they intended to form a breakaway “Super League”, an annual competition for the top teams in Europe—and so the world. It could kick off as soon as August. The boss of Europe’s football association, UEFA, declared the idea “a spit in the face of all football lovers”. Fans draped their clubs’ stadiums with banners condemning the plan.The intensity of opposition to the idea means that the new league may struggle to go ahead in its proposed form. But it could yet lead to a compromise that is in the interests of both clubs and fans.