Juventus risk Serie A expulsion if Super League plan persists, Italian FA warns

Gabriele Gravina, president of the Italian football federation (FIGC), has warned that Juventus could be expelled from Serie A if the club refuses to renounce its European Super League (ESL) membership.

According to Sky Sports, the Italian FA boss gave the warning while speaking with Kiss Kiss, a Naples radio station, on Monday.

“The rules are clear. If Juventus is still part of the Super League when it enters next season, it can’t participate in Serie A,” he said.

“I would be sorry for the fans but rules are rules and they apply to everyone. I hope this holdout ends soon.”

Real Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus are the teams persisting with the plans out of the 12 “founding clubs” that have renounced their membership to the breakaway league.

The trio had in a joint statement on Saturday kicked against the “intolerable pressure and threats from UEFA” to abandon the idea.

They also vowed to “persevere” with the project despite its complete proscription.

“The founding clubs have suffered, and continue to suffer, unacceptable third-party pressures, threats, and offenses to abandon the project and therefore desist from their right and duty to provide solutions to the football ecosystem via concrete proposals and constructive dialogue,” the statement had read.

“This is intolerable under the rule of law and tribunals have already ruled in favour of the Super League proposal, ordering FIFA and UEFA to, either directly or through their affiliated bodies, refrain from taking any action which may hinder this initiative in any way while court proceedings are pending.

“Mostly, we reiterate to FIFA, UEFA and all football stakeholders, as we have done on several occasions since the announcement of the Super League, our commitment and firm will to discuss, with respect and without intolerable pressure and in accordance with the rule of law, the most appropriate solutions for the sustainability of the whole football family.”

The breakaway league began falling apart less than 72 hours after its formation, with all the English “big six”—Manchester City, Chelsea, Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur— pulling out after pressure from fans and government officials.

The Italian duo of Inter Milan and AC Milan followed immediately as Atletico Madrid became the only Spanish side to leave the widely denounced league.