J. P. Morgan responded to the breakdown of the European Super League on Friday, and admitted having been involved in the project to “revolutionize football”
In the newest statement of U.S. American banking giant J. P. Morgan, the company admitted being involved in the new European Super League project. According to Reuters, the bank was funding the project with an initial $4.2 billion investment. We now also know that J. P. Morgan was the only bank lending money to build the new competition from the ground up.
In a statement we can conclude that they feel they “clearly misjudged how this deal would be viewed by the wider football community and how it might impact them in the future”. This statement came out after the collapse of the competition just 48 hours after of its announcement.
Football fans across the world have called a boycott against J. P. Morgan on Twitter to express their anger towards the bank for “attempting to destroy football”. The fans´ anger has been somewhat calmed after the bank´s statement, but the damage has already been done to J. P. Morgan´s reputation.
The announcement of the European Super League last week has generated a widespread backlash from the supporters of the member teams. Just two days after the initial announcement, all six Premier League clubs have recalled their membership and apologized to the fans for their “wrong decision”. Liverpool FC owner John W. Henry has recorded a video of himself apologizing to the fans directly, which was shared on multiple social media platforms of the club. Manchester United owner Joel Glazer has published a statement with a humble tone, promising for better communication between the club and its fans.
On the other hand, Arsenal owner Stan Kroenke is still under pressure, and multiple reports suggest that the club might be sold to Spotify CEO and Founder Daniel Ek. Ek himself said “I've been an Arsenal fan since I was eight. I am very serious” about buying the club. A change of scenery would please the Arsenal fans, who are desperately calling for new ownership. The Agora will closely follow the news regarding the European Super League after Super League President Florentino Perez´s statement, saying the new competition will take place, as the contracts that have been signed are legally binding.