Manchester United supporters stormed into the stadium and onto the pitch, delaying Sunday’s game against Liverpool as thousands of fans gathered outside Old Trafford to demand the Glazer family ownership sells the club. Long-running anger against the American owners has boiled over after they were part of the failed attempt to take United into a European Super League as well as the club’s debt. “Get out of our club,” fans chanted as flares were set off. “We want Glazers out.” The family, who also own the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers, have declined to engage with fans since buying United in 2005 in a leveraged takeover that loaded debt onto the club Fans are currently unable to attend games due to the pandemic but they found a way into the stadium. They also climbed onto vantage points next to turnstile entrances Supporters wore green-and-gold scarves and also set off flares in the colors of the club’s 1878 formation. More than 100 fans got inside the stadium and some could be seen from windows waving down to protesters. If United loses Sunday’s game, Manchester City has won the Premier League title. United is the record 20-time English champion but hasn’t lifted the trophy since 2013. Kickoff time was originally scheduled for 4:30 p.m. local time (1530 GMT).

Is it possible to imagine a World Cup without Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo?However, such concerns were raised when an announcement came on Sunday (April 18th) that a new competition branded the "European Super League" will be launched with the best clubs from across Europe. The competition was initially planned to feature 15 topclubs as permanent members.UEFA responded immediately, warning that the teams would be excluded and their players would be banned from participating in international competitions.This article discusses, how the European Super League could have ruled Messi and Ronaldo out of the FIFA World Cup 2022?  What is the European Super League? The European Super League is a brand new competition for so-called elite clubs which will feature 20 teams. There will be 15 founding clubs and the names of 12 clubs have been released so far.  They are Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham from Premier League; Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid from La Liga; and Inter, Juventus, AC Milan from Serie A. Read: How European football is badly affected by the pandemic covid-19? Three more clubs are expected to join as founding members. Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern Munich, and Borussia Dortmund are believed to have been contacted, but none of them have shown a desire to join. Five more teams will be picked for the competition each season based on their domestic season performance. Tournament format The clubs will be split into two groups and the matches will be played on a home and away basis, as usual. The top three teams from each group will advance to the quarter-finals. For the final two spots, the fourth and fifth teams in each group will play a two-leg play-off match. Then the rest of the way is like the Champions League. Expected tournament schedule The season's calendar can be complicated since Super League teams still tend to compete in the domestic league. It'll be a packed schedule and being occupied in such a tournament means bidding farewell to the Champions League. The Super League authority has confirmed that the matches will take place in mid-week. The final will be one match and it will be held by the end of May. When is the Super League set to begin? FC Barcelona said in an official statement that they want to begin the league as soon as possible. However, the clubs announced in a joint statement that the competition will begin in August. How much money will the clubs earn? European Super League teams will get a huge financial benefit. The founding clubs will receive 3.5 billion euros for infrastructure improvements and debt relief. The prize money for teams in the Super League will be significantly higher than the prize money for teams in the Champions League. Read: Football Transfers 2021: The hot favorites to replace Sergio Aguero at Man City UEFA's response on super league UEFA, the Premier League, La Liga, and Serie A all responded quickly to the Super League's announcement. In an official statement, UEFA said that they are all working together to avoid this unethical project, and they believe the super league is formed to protect the clubs' self-interest. UEFA also stated that football is a merit-based sport and that they will never support such a decision. As a result, super league clubs will be banned from competing in any domestic, continental, or worldwide competition. Players from the teams will also be unable to represent their country in any international matches. After the announcement of UEFA, there are fears that superstar footballers like Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo will not be seen in FIFA World Cup 2022. Both Messi and Ronaldo have yet to win the World Cup. So they want to make one last attempt to win the World Cup in Qatar. But if UEFA's announcement is true, then apart from these two best footballers of all time, almost half of the world's best footballers will be absent in the World Cup 2022. Because nearly all of the world's biggest stars play for Europe's top clubs. Read: Potential Young Players Who Could Rule World Football Next Decade Protest and confirmation of all English clubs withdrawal Supporters from a number of Premier League clubs have protested the club owners' arbitrary decision. Fans of Liverpool and Chelsea were prominent among them. Within 48 hours of the widespread criticism, all Premier League clubs reversed their positions and announced their withdrawal from the Super League. Following the announcement by all Premier League teams, the Super League's other six clubs would no longer remain in their previous stands. So, the European Super League's dissolution may be announced at any moment. However, UEFA and FIFA must place more emphasis on protecting everyone's interests. Read:  Summer Window 2021: Five Potential Big Football Transfers Bottom Line Coronavirus has placed all of Europe's big clubs into a huge economic crisis. As a result, they're attempting to cover the financial loss by introducing new initiatives. However, there is no valid reason to support a proposal that undermines the very essence of football. The demands of the clubs are not completely unreasonable. In this case, UEFA needed to be more vigilant. If the Super League tournament is not held as expected, big names like Messi and Ronaldo will be able to participate in the FIFA World Cup 2022. This will be great news for millions of football fans around the world. Read:  Lionel Messi: The Argentine Football Star’s Most Unbreakable Records

Juventus chairman Andrea Agnelli says the European Super League (ESL) project cannot proceed as Inter Milan and Atletico Madrid joined the six Premier League clubs in withdrawing,reports BBC. Agnelli was one of the chief architects of the breakaway plans, which involved 12 clubs from England, Spain and Italy. Also Read:Super League collapses after the 6 English clubs withdraw But with eight of the 12 teams pulling out, he accepts it cannot now go ahead. "To be frank and honest no, evidently that is not the case," said Agnelli, on whether the ESL could still happen. "I remain convinced of the beauty of that project, of the value that it would have developed to the pyramid, of the creation of the best competition in the world, but evidently no. I don't think that project is now still up and running." Atletico Madrid and Inter Milan announced their withdrawal on Wednesday morning. Also Read: Atlético Madrid, Inter Milan drop out of Super League The Juventus chairman was described as a "snake and a liar" by Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin on Monday after the announcement of the breakaway plans on Sunday evening. Agnelli resigned his position as chairman of the European Clubs' Association on Sunday and refused to take calls from Ceferin. The six Premier League clubs involved all withdrew within hours of each other on Tuesday following a furious backlash against the plans. Manchester City were the first club to pull out after Chelsea had signalled their intent to do so by preparing documentation to withdraw. The other four sides - Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United and Tottenham - then followed suit late on Tuesday evening. In announcing their withdrawal on Wednesday, Atletico Madrid said "harmony is essential" between the club and the fans, and added that the first-team squad and coach Diego Simeone had backed their decision because "sporting merits must prevail over any other criteria". In their statement, Serie A side Inter Milan said they were "committed to giving fans the best football experience", adding: "Our engagement with all stakeholders to improve the football industry will never change." The 12-team Super League, which also included Spanish sides Barcelona and Real Madrid and Italy's AC Milan and Juventus was announced on Sunday to widespread condemnation. "Despite the announced departure of the English clubs, forced to take such decisions due to the pressure put on them, we are convinced our proposal is fully aligned with European law and regulations," the ESL said earlier on Wednesday, adding it was "convinced that the current status quo of European football needs to change". "Real Madrid president Florentino Perez is insisting on the idea of keeping the group together to push for change," says Spanish football expert Guillem Balague. "Barcelona say they agreed to the ESL, but only if the season ticket holders' assembly approve it, which could be their way out."

Manchester City have withdrawn from the European Super League (ESL) and Chelsea are also preparing to do so, according to reports in the British media. Efforts to leave come just two days after both were announced as two of six English clubs to sign up to the controversial new competition. The ESL has been widely criticised since being announced on Sunday, reports BBC. Around 1,000 fans gathered outside Chelsea's Stamford Bridge home ground before their game against Brighton on Tuesday to protest their involvement. Chelsea and City were part of English football's 'big six' clubs - alongside Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United and Tottenham - to have agreed to join the new league. In total, 12 European clubs announced their intentions to form the breakaway league, which they hoped to establish as a new midweek competition. It was condemned by football authorities and government ministers in the UK and across Europe by Uefa and leagues associations. Chelsea were the first club to indicate they will not press ahead by preparing documentation to withdrawn. City withdrew soon after. Chelsea and City were not drivers of this plan, they were the last to sign and feared being left behind. It is not clear how easy it is or how binding the contracts are. The decision to try and have Chelsea leave was taken by owner Roman Abramovich and the club's board after witnessing negative global reaction to the Super League. There was a fear that it could do reputational damage to the club. Questions were raised internally as to whether fans would respond to the club if it continued with a proposal which has gone down so badly. The decision was made earlier on Tuesday before protests started outside Stamford Bridge. Earlier in the day, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson met with the Football Association, Premier League officials and fans' representatives, after which the government said it will take "whatever action necessary", including legislative options, to ensure the proposals were stopped. Johnson's stance is supported by Labour and the Liberal Democrats. A statement released after a meeting between the Premier League and the 14 clubs not involved said they "unanimously and vigorously" rejected plans for the competition. It added that it is considering "all actions available" to stop the competition and asked the six teams to end their involvement immediately. Meanwhile late breaking reports suggest Ed Woodward, executive vice chairman of Manchester United, has handed in his resignation in the backlash of the ESL's announcement, putting in doubt whether the club will now go ahead with the breakaway league. In a parallel development TALKSport is reporting that Andrea Agnelli has resigned from his post as president of Juventus, one of 3 Italian clubs involved in the fiasco.